I remembered a Coast Guard officer being put in charge of the
Hurricane Katrina situation, so I did a little searching online to
refresh my memory. Some of that situation seems relevant today.
If that’s before your time or you have forgotten, look up Coast Guard
former Admiral Thad Allen and Army former Lt. General Russell Honore.
By all accounts they did excellent work leading that effort, taking
over from the botched effort of FEMA political appointee Michael Brown.
The politicians (of both parties) both local and federal didn’t
exactly distinguish themselves either. There was talk of invoking the
Insurrection Act, federalizing the Louisiana National Guard, and
shooting looters and snipers. Google AI Overview tells me:
In the chaotic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, General Russell Honoré
ordered soldiers to "put those damn weapons down" after witnessing
them pointing guns at civilians in New Orleans. His command, given to
emphasize that the victims were not the enemy and were in need of
rescue, helped to de-escalate the tense situation and refocus the
military on life-saving efforts.
* *The situation:*
In the days after Hurricane Katrina, some soldiers had their weapons
raised and pointed at civilians in New Orleans.
* *Honoré's response:*
Upon his arrival, Lieutenant General Russell Honoré famously barked at
the troops, "Put those damn weapons down! I'm not going to tell you
again, goddamn it!".
* *The reasoning:*
He made it clear that the people were not the enemy, but rather
Americans in need of help. He recognized that the troops were not in a
combat zone and needed to shift their focus to rescue operations.
* *The impact:*
This directive helped establish a more effective and humane response,
shifting the focus from potential threats to actual life-saving and
the delivery of aid. It helped build trust with the victims and was a
critical factor in restoring order and carrying out the mission.
*From:*AF <[email protected]> *On Behalf Of *Mark Radabaugh
*Sent:* Thursday, October 23, 2025 7:57 AM
*To:* AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group <[email protected]>
*Subject:* Re: [AFMUG] now we're blowing up boats in the Pacific
Someday I would really like to be able to sail around the Caribbean
and South America without having to worry about being randomly blown
out of the water for no reason at all. “Well, the US said it was OK
to kill people in international waters”.
Mark
On Oct 23, 2025, at 1:31 AM, Jason McKemie
<[email protected]> wrote:
It seems very telling that when they blew up a boat and people
survived, they sent them back to their home country vs prosecuting
them. You can't introduce that testimony into the public record.
On Wed, Oct 22, 2025, 11:44 PM Ken Hohhof <[email protected]> wrote:
Replying to myself, which is perhaps a sign I should be in
therapy, but I just realized one reason why the Coast Guard is
underappreciated or at least unknown compared to Army, Navy,
Air Force and Marines. They are part of DHS not DOD.
But now that DOD is calling itself the Department of War,
maybe DHS is just fine. Although one is Hegseth and the other
is Noem, so flip a coin.
Coast Guard is also much smaller, has a smaller budget, and a
much smaller PR budget. No money to toot their own horn.
*From:*AF <[email protected]> *On Behalf Of *Ken Hohhof
*Sent:* Wednesday, October 22, 2025 10:50 PM
*To:* 'AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group' <[email protected]>
*Subject:* Re: [AFMUG] now we're blowing up boats in the Pacific
Yeah, but if it’s on the ocean, I’d prefer to see a Hawaii
Five 0 style chase. With McGarrett in a speedboat, and at the
end he says “book ‘em, Danno”.
Besides, I think the Coasties are an underappreciated branch
of the US military.
*From:*AF <[email protected]> *On Behalf Of *Steve Jones
*Sent:* Wednesday, October 22, 2025 8:31 PM
*To:* AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group <[email protected]>
*Subject:* Re: [AFMUG] now we're blowing up boats in the Pacific
I prefer to see cartels bombed. When they started moving the
fent, they chose bombs. A little nose candy here and there,
some dope, a little crystal, even some heroin was manageable.
But these ducks decided to move shit that one mistake kills.
Fuckbag dealers are putting it it club drugs and on vicodins.
Kids don't have a chance to make a mistake.
Bomb the shit out of them. Sink their boats, cut their life
jackets, chum the waters, I don't care as long as they die.
They don't want to give our kids a second chance, their adults
deserve as terrible a death as possible. Idgaf about human
rights, they don't, and I have no interest in the high road.
On Wed, Oct 22, 2025, 6:45 PM Dev <[email protected]> wrote:
Turns out drug dealers sometimes get shot, who knew? Maybe
they were delivering critical supplies to orphanages,
because speedboats with three engines mean urgent care is
being delivered expeditiously?
On Oct 22, 2025, at 3:03 PM, Ken Hohhof
<[email protected]> wrote:
Article on the latest generation of US Coast Guard
“Over The Horizon” boats.
https://www.workboat.com/shipbuilding/test-driving-the-coast-guard-s-new-over-the-horizon-cutter-boat
Generally deployed from a ramp on the back of a larger
cutter along with helicopters. These things vaguely
remind me of the WWII PT boats.
I would not want to try and outrun the Coast Guard.
*From:* AF <[email protected]> *On Behalf Of
*Adam Moffett
*Sent:* Wednesday, October 22, 2025 4:24 PM
*To:* 'AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group' <[email protected]>
*Subject:* Re: [AFMUG] now we're blowing up boats in
the Pacific
Yes, and that's the primary argument against this
practice. If we have solid intel that they're
carrying drugs, and we know where they are, then as
soon as they enter our territorial waters we can board
the boat and arrest them. The Coast Guard doesn't
need a warrant or even a specific reason to board a
boat. Some of those boats are faster than Cutters,
but I don't have solid info on how often they actually
escape when they're already being tracked. It's hard
to imagine they really get away often because the
Coast Guard also has helicopters, and they're allowed
to continue a pursuit into international waters (and
onto land) as long as the pursuit started in US waters.
Regardless of how often they really get away, it's not
normal to blow up someone's boat as a law enforcement
action. We also don't execute drug traffickers, and
even when the state executes someone there's a trial
first.
but.....
* post-911 we treat foreign terrorist organizations
as enemy combatants
* the executive branch gets to decide who counts as
an FTO. The sec of state, sec of treasury, and
attorney general all have to agree, but they also
all have the same boss.
* Nobody can really stop the executive branch from
declaring an FTO.
o Congress could pass a bill to override
someone's listing as an FTO, but to date
they've never done it.
o The courts could overturn an FTO listing, but
for a lot of reasons it's almost impossible.
So effectively the President and/or their cabinet has
a completely legal pathway to authorize military force
against just about anyone, and there's very little
anyone can do about it. It's not that I have sympathy
for drug smugglers, it's that all we can do is take
someone's word for it that it was a drug smuggler. If
anyone is totally comfortable with that then I'm
curious what your rationale is.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*From:* AF <[email protected]> on behalf of Ken
Hohhof <[email protected]>
*Sent:* Wednesday, October 22, 2025 3:00 PM
*To:* 'AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group' <[email protected]>
*Subject:* [AFMUG] now we're blowing up boats in the
Pacific
_https://x.com/SecWar/status/1981049943306752361
<https://x.com/SecWar/status/1981049943306752361>_
I thought the Coast Guard was able to intercept boats
and board them, arrest people and confiscate cargo. I
seem to remember they specifically acquired high speed
boats that were a match for anything a drug runner
might have.
--
AF mailing list
[email protected]
http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com
--
AF mailing list
[email protected]
http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com
--
AF mailing list
[email protected]
http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com
--
AF mailing list
[email protected]
http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com
