The Failed Pacifist

FEMA: "Things are going relatively well"

CNN has a page full of what they are labeling as "conflicting statements" made by government officials regarding the aftermath of Katrina. The conflict is between what some government officials are saying and what reporters and others are actually seeing. It seems FEMA Chief Michael Brown is particularly adept at denying the severity of things.

Violence and civil unrest

# Brown: I've had no reports of unrest, if the connotation of the word unrest means that people are beginning to riot, or you know, they're banging on walls and screaming and hollering or burning tires or whatever. I've had no reports of that.

# CNN's Chris Lawrence: From here and from talking to the police officers, they're losing control of the city. We're now standing on the roof of one of the police stations. The police officers came by and told us in very, very strong terms it wasn't safe to be out on the street.

posted by Doran @ 1:22 PM