Posted on 11/11/2013 12:50:43 PM PST by BenLurkin
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — A group of more than a dozen local volunteers, mostly military veterans, are scheduled to land in the Philippines Monday to aid with search-and-rescue efforts in the typhoon-ravaged country.
KNX 1070′s Ed Mertz reports volunteers are from Team Rubicon, a non-profit organization started in 2010 by two former Marines who wanted to help with earthquake relief in Haiti.
The group, which will be in the Philippines on an eight-day mission dubbed “Operation Seabird”, will search for and treat survivors in the city of Tacloban, where the death toll is estimated to be as high as 10,000.
World Vision’s director of Emergency Affairs Chris Palusky said just getting in contact with the organization’s approximately 300 personnel on the ground is a challenge with communications wiped out.
“It’s a desperate situation and incredibly challenging,” Palusky said. “It’s rather chaotic…there’ve been reports of looting, and people are just desperate at this stage.”
Team Rubicon’s 8,000 members include former marines, paramedics, firefighters and search and rescue personnel.
The organization is planning on sending another team to the Philippines this weekend.
Anything which has “Haiti” attached to it sounds like Klinton.
Let me get this straight: We don’t have the funds for tours of the White House, BUT we can mount an effort to send millions in aid to a country that threw us out several years ago and now harbors a large muslim terrorist network?
I think this is a private effort — not tax dollars.
It is a private effort.
I had a negative impression of them, because I heard about them a while back on one of the alphabet news stations that my wife was watching.
I admit there was something about it that didn’t sit right with me, but likely it was because one of the networks was covering it in a way that distinctly sounded to me like they were suggesting we should be using our military the way these guys were conducting themselves instead of a defense force. That was just my gut feeling, and I have to recognize that negativity was far more focused on the network covering it than the task those people were doing.
And saying that, I don’t have anything bad to say about people who spend their own time and money to help folks who need help. I just have a knee-jerk reaction to the media covering anything and invoking the military.
Thank god we havent seen the trifecta of disaster carter bubba and Bush#1 on tv asking for money, we all know haw that scam turned out
I think it is a shame that the Phillipines kicked us out of their country. Could you imagine the immediate help from Angeles City that would have been on the scene a very short time. Stupid decision on their part.
Let me get this straight: We don’t have the funds for tours of the White House, BUT we can mount an effort to send millions in aid to a country that threw us out several years ago and now harbors a large muslim terrorist network?
As I understand it the U.S., Obama, have offered the Philippines a wopping 20 million dollars in aid, think about that, Obama gives more money to our sworn enemies than an ally that has suffered a major natural disaster and over 10,000 deaths. Maybe you could focus you anger in better direction. And as far as harboring muslim terrorists? Our current administration has been doing a bang up job right here in America!
“harbors a large muslim terrorist network”
Wrong. The RP does not “harbor a large muslim terrorist network”
The eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in 1991 basically sealed the fate of US involvement in the Phils after Clarke AFB and Subic Bay Naval Yard and AFB were destroyed by the eruption of Pinatubo although it was not the sole reason.
Perhaps it’s time the Filipino’s consider re-engaging their relationship with the US, a country that is loved by most Filipino people. Especially older one’s who remember the sacrifices made by our military to drive out the Japanese in WW2
Ironically, Tacloban City, which was hardest hit by the Hurricane is where MacArthur famously stated “I shall return”
Might be a good time to go back to our previous relationship with the Philippines, but not while President Assbama is in office.
And I will be sending what I can afford to help out as ten’s of thousand’s may have died and many more have been left homeless.
Saw some pics today. Many where terrible, but other pics were inspiring as they showed Filipino people already rebuilding the modest Nipa huts they lived in, unlike those lazy ingrates in NOLA that sat around and did nothing but blame GWB and say “GIMME!” while spending their $2,000 assistance cards on luxury items.
Actually, MacArthur made the “I shall return” proclamation in Australia, but when he made good on his promise to “return” he landed in/near Tacloban where he set up HQ
This maybe, but the bulk is Uncle Sugar - Carrier task force, marines, helicopters, etc. - ain't cheap.
Beg to differ Rodney. Do some research. This is but one of hundreds of different reports:
"Muslim Terrorists in Philippines Use Christians as Human Shields" - Sept 12, 2013
I hadn’t heard that any of those things were being used.
That said, I don’t necessarily have an issue with our military helping people in those situations, I think it provides valuable and unique experience about operating in areas that have no infrastructure or damaged infrastructure.
My father was the XO on the USS Bristol that was the first ship from the outside world that arrived in Belize after the Hurricane Hattie destroyed it in 1961, and he took a launch in to establish contact...the harbor infrastructure, navigation buoys, channels, everything had been wiped clean, and the entire island had been flattened. (I have his military records that contain the after action report he wrote...a very well written document, and interesting, too)
But I digress. As I said, if we are using the military infrastructure to insert them rather than having them cruise around conducting flight ops to get air time for pilots and dropping little blue practice bombs on towed sleds, I don’t have a problem per se.
But I don’t want that to be the sole reason for our military to exist. The recruitment commercials I see drive me crazy. “A power for good” should be “A power to annihilate our enemies”. Being helpful is good, and our military IS good at that, and it is good for our country, but if it makes us lose sight of the things they should be used for, then no.
The only thing I found was:
“...Nearly 100 U.S. Marines and sailors are already on the ground in the Philippines, amid the devastation of Typhoon Haiyan, the vanguard of a U.S. military force that is sure to balloon in coming days. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has ordered the U.S. Pacific Command into action following the weekend storm, which may have left 10,000 Filipinos dead. The initial batch of 90 Marines and sailors flew more than 1,500 miles south before arriving Sunday in the Philippines from the Marines’ air station at Futenma, Japan, on a pair of KC-130J cargo planes. Their initial efforts will involve search and rescue before transitioning to transportation and logistics. They arrived in the hard-hit city of Tacloban Monday afternoon. “Roads are impassable, trees are all down, posts are down, power is down,” Marine Brigadier General Paul Kennedy, the commanding general of the Okinawa-based 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, told reporters. “I am not sure what else is there. I am not sure how else to describe this destruction.” Another 180 Marines are en route, U.S. officials said, and the Pentagon is standing by for expected requests for additional aid from the Philippine government...”
I don’t see anything about a carrier task force, etc, but you may have more info than I do. As for the other aid, financial from the government, etc., that is a different issue that should be evaluated, IMO.
They do have this one line “...the vanguard of a U.S. military force that is sure to balloon in coming days...” which may presage a CTF, but I don’t see it yet.
When you're $17 Trillion in debt, humanitarian aid should be left to someone else, like the UN or private aid agencies. You have to start cutting back somewhere.
I don’t disagree.
The RP does not “harbor a large muslim terrorist network”The Moro Islamic Liberation Front - The other MILF
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