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Where are the leaflets?
by Donald Sensing @ 1:57 pm. Filed under Current events/news, Hurricanes
There is no electric power in New Orleans and I assume most of southern Louisiana. There are huge power outages in southern Mississippi as well. With no power, mass communications to the people are significantly degraded. Televisions dont work, there are huge gaps in cell phone coverage and batteries for radios are dying out.
The American military has decades of practice in mass communications to people with no delectrical power or other means to receive information. US forces have been dropping leaflets to enemy soldiers since World War I and did so with great effect in the Iraq war in 2003.
The Armys psyops units have the capability to print millions of leaflets per day. It is against the law (literally, a Congressional prohibition, not a mere regulation) to employ psyops personnel or use psyops equipment to communicate to a domestic audience, even the Armys own soldiers. Update: However, in 1992 President Bush (the elder) authorized use of psyops units and equipment for Hurricane Andrew relief.
However, we note that because of the worry about the term PSYOP, the psychological operations task force (POTF) was called the Humanitarian Assistance Information Element and the PSYOP troops were referred to as humanitarian information support teams.
It can be done again, if Bush the son has the gumption of Bush the father. I am certain that psyops commanders are well aware of psyops role in Andrew relief and have made contingency plans to provide assistance again. They just need the word.
Even so, across the country there are civilian print plants that far outpace the printing plants of the military. Within short order, hundreds of millions of leaflets could be printed to be dropped over afflicted areas. The leaflets could explain what aid is on the way, where aid can be found, how to move out of dangerous areas, how to signal critical needs to overflying aircraft, how to sterilize water, basic trauma first aid, where medical help can be attained the list is endless.
One of the best things leafleting would do is psychologically reconnect the cut off victims to their governments and restore their morale and will.
Why is leafleting necessary? Turn only to Vodkapundit, citing Survival Of New Orleans, being written live by a former soldier whos holed up with a crew of data warehousers high up in a Central Business District office tower. Survival blogs,
There is a mass exodus for the Mississippi River Bridges (Crescent City Connection) from the CBD. We are not sure whats going on, but we are assuming until we hear differently that people are fleeing the city. So if youre watching the feeds, thats what youre seeingthrongs of people moving toward the bridges.
Why? To what end? Rumors across the southern swath are out of control. Press conferences held by civil officials are not being seen by their own citizens. Leafleting can solve the communications problem. Vodkapundit continues,
Military is stepping up and bringing considerable skills and assets to the table. Had they been listened to earlier, lots of logistical issues would have been resolved.
There is a reservoir of skill and experience in leafleting in the Army that can be brought to bear, using civilian resources. Has no one else thought of this?
Update: CNNs reporter Chris Lawrence reports from New Orleans convention center,
People are asking, Where are the buses? Where is the plan? Where is the help? he said. More people were arriving at the center, walking south along Canal Street.
There are many more problems, many of them deadly problems, that mere leafleting wont solve. But people need to know what their governments are doing to help them. And right now theyre being told nothing.
Update: And for that matter, where are humanitarian rations? Heck, ordinary MREs? The Air Force delivered millions to the people of Afghanistan in 2002. I know first-hand the air delivery capabilities the military services have. I am sure that the supply chain for MREs is focused on service to deployed units, but I am about positive, based on my experience on the Army Staff, that there is about a 30-day usage stock on hand. Thats millions of meals, probably tens of millions. I would guess that a million MREs could be surrendered by DOD to relief without a big strain, probably more than that.
Getting them to the stricken areas like New Orleans would not be a problem, but distribution of the ground would be. Riots would break out unless everyone was informed in advance (leaflets, anyone?) of the number of MREs available. Even then, ravenously hungry people will swarm the distro points. So there would have to be a siginficant preparation effort with security to implement food distribution on the ground. I dont think that the civil organs in New Orleans are capable of doing that at this point. It would take a large effort by the Guard at least.
Update, 9:15 p.m., CDT: David Lee on FoxNews, reporting from New Orleans, says that MREs are being distributed in the city and had one himself.
