Thanks to Hurricane Katrina, the Big Easy has been flooded, burned and looted for most of the last five days.

And it looks as if the nightmare might be ongoing for years to come. There’s no estimate as to how long it will take to get the water out of the city. The stagnating water alone is a witches brew of chemicals, human waste and God knows what else.

In place of Dixieland jazz, French cuisine, and the wonderful cultural mix of the city, urban anarchy appears to be taking hold; looting, robbery, rape, you name it, all the ills of an urban society in break-down mode are occurring.

Worse, of course, is the breakdown in the human infrastructure. Katrina booted a lot of people out of their houses, making them essentially urban refugees. There’s a lack of the three basics of everyday life: food, clothing and shelter. The victims in New Orleans are, as is usually the case, the urban poor, the homeless, the elderly and the sick. In short, all those who in the best of times had it hard and in the worse of times have it even harder.

Worse still has been the response of government. Not just local, but state and federal, as well.

As of yet, despite nearly a week of 24/7 coverage of the disaster by the news media, with needs clearly articulated, most of those still left in New Orleans, those who could not get out originally are still there and still desperate. Still in need of food, clothing and shelter.

And it gets still worse. As if the suffering the ground isn’t bad enough, things are being compounded again for the worse by what exactly is being done to alleviate the situation. Or more correctly, what is not being done.

One thing that is not being done is the basic one of providing security for those still in the city. Which brings up the question, where, exactly is the National Guard? Where exactly , is the Army? Nobody seems to know. After five days of chaos, only a few national guardsmen have moved in. No army as of yet. Yet we are constantly being told by politicians and high-level bureaucrats in the civil and military sectors, that everything possible is being done to help the situation. And that troops are pouring into the area. But of course, they are not. Alternatively, we are being told that that large amounts of assets are being accumulated or that a certain number of troops have been assigned to a certain area. But not a word about exactly when any of these assets will actually be entering the corporate limits of New Orleans. Attempts to bus the displaced out of New Orleans are proceeding, but at a tortuous (literally) pace. Some relief cannot enter the city because of security concerns.

In point of fact, nothing, much is happening in New Orleans, except for new fires and a chemical explosion this morning, which, according to news reports caused a stampede in the superdome.

Police (such as they are) are worthless. Their equipment is not working and they themselves are going without food and water. People with serious medical problems are actually dying for want of basic necessities.

And what about the politicians? The politicians are a disgrace.

And this goes for all of them, from the president on down to the major. All we hear from the politicians is more and more speeches promising more and more aid. is promises of more aid. Either that or loads of thanks and congratulations to other politicians Of course when politicians are not promising something, they are usually thanking other politicians for doing something. Take for example, US Senator Mary L. Landrieu. She spends the bulk of her time before TV cameras congratulating other politicians and high level bureaucrats and military officers for all the “help” they are giving to New Orleans. The Governor of Louisiana, Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, spends the bulk of her time standing before the TV cameras issuing stern warnings to looters that the national guard is going into New Orleans with weapons at the ready “locked and loaded” [What NG troops?] As of now there are very few for a city with a normal population of about half a million. Meantime snipers continue to shoot at rescue workers.

As Tim Naftali of Slate noted today:

“Rather than direct the U.S. military to immediately assist the thousands of people without food or water in the city center, Bush assured the nation that expected gasoline shortages would be temporary and that his father and former President Clinton were ready to pass the tin can to ensure private-sector support for rebuilding New Orleans. As people began dying around the Convention Center, and Mayor Ray Nagin resorted to issuing a pathetic SOS over CNN, Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff spoke empathetically of the suffering of the people in New Orleans. But somehow he seemed proud that 72 hours after the hurricane hit, only 2,800 National Guardsmen had come to the city.”

The politicians, instead of issuing orders, seem content to call press conferences and make speeches telling us how much better things are now, than they were last Monday.