wtf?

what do you MEAN this ship is unused? it can make 100,000 GALLONS OF FRESH WATER DAILY. why is this ship just SITTING THERE? GULF COAST CRISIS: OFF THE GULF COAST

Navy ship nearby underusedCraft with
food, water,
doctors needed ordersBy Stephen J. HedgesTribune national
correspondentPublished
September 4, 2005
ON THE USS BATAAN -- While
federal and state emergency
planners scramble to get more military relief to
Gulf Coast communities stricken
by Hurricane Katrina, a massive naval
goodwill station has been cruising
offshore, underused and waiting for a
larger role in the effort.The USS Bataan,
a 844-foot ship designed to
dispatch Marines in amphibious assaults, has
helicopters, doctors, hospital
beds, food and water. It also can make its own
water, up to 100,000 gallons
a day. And it just happened to be in the Gulf of
Mexico when Katrina came
roaring ashore.The Bataan rode out the storm and then
followed it toward
shore, awaiting relief orders. Helicopter pilots flying from
its deck were
some of the first to begin plucking stranded New Orleans
residents.But now
the Bataan's hospital facilities, including six operating
rooms and beds for
600 patients, are empty. A good share of its 1,200 sailors
could also go
ashore to help with the relief effort, but they haven't been
asked. The
Bataan has been in the stricken region the longest of any military
unit, but
federal authorities have yet to fully utilize the ship.Captain ready,
waiting"Could we do more?" said Capt. Nora Tyson, commander of the Bataan.
"Sure. I've got sailors who could be on the beach plucking through garbage
or
distributing water and food and stuff. But I can't force myself on
people."We're
doing everything we can to contribute right now, and we're
ready. If someone
says you need to take on people, we're ready. If they say
hospitals on the beach
can't handle it ... if they need to send the overflow
out here, we're ready.
We've got lots of room."......................