Ron Paul Slams Federal Interference In Oil Spill Relief Efforts

Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com

As tar balls from the BP oil spill wash into Galveston, Texas, Congressman Ron Paul has slammed federal interference in the relief effort that is hampering local attempts to mitigate the consequences of the disaster, mimicking how the feds deliberately botched the response to hurricane Katrina and made the crisis worse.

“They have done a lot to interfere,” Paul told National Political Correspondent Jessica Yellin on CNN’s “John King USA.”

“A lot of local officials, property owners and state officials have wanted to do more over in Louisiana and Mississippi and the federal government, the fish and wildlife people, the EPA and others, they come in and they prohibit them from doing it,” said Paul.

The Congressman also added that if large numbers of National Guard troops were not deployed oversees fighting endless wars, there might be more manpower to call upon in aiding relief efforts.

“If all our states had their Guard units back here maybe they would have the manpower to do more to help clean up the beaches and prevent the oil from coming in, but, no, our Guard units are all over the world fighting wars we don’t need,” said Paul.

In hindsight, it’s becoming clear that the government has deliberately botched the response and prevented local authorities from doing their jobs, just as FEMA deliberately sabotaged the state response to Hurricane Katrina in order to make the crisis worse and create the pretext for a police state response, gun confiscation and ultimately more federal power.

Numerous reports have surfaced of locals and state authorities being prevented by BP contractors and the U.S. Coast Guard from helping to address the devastation the spill has created in the region.

One example of undue federal interference occurred last month when Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal ordered the state’s fleet of sixteen vacuum barges to clean up oil in the Louisiana marshes. The U.S. Coast Guard intercepted the barges for the purposes of an “inspection,” but then promptly failed to conduct any inspection and merely ordered them to turn around and head back to the dock.