Posted on 01/14/2010 7:10:42 AM PST by IBD editorial writer
Disaster Relief: Tuesday's earthquake in Haiti was its worst since 1770, leaving the capital in ruins and a death toll that may top 100,000. But help is on its way, and it's America leading the effort.
Our tiny tragic neighbor was already in bad shape when the 7.0 earthquake struck the capital of Port-au-Prince. It wasn't just any 7.0 quake, as if that were not bad enough, but a shallow one, meaning it shook harder.
Worse still, it hit the most populated area of the country, where 3 million of the country's 9 million citizens live — and left thousands dead and many more homeless.
(Excerpt) Read more at investors.com ...
It might make sense for developers to buy up the prime waterfront at bargain prices, build resorts, employ thousands of Haitians at salaries Haitians can only dream of and bring some prosperity to the blighted island.
Send them a fishing fleet?
They would just all tear it up/steal it
Many churches are sending in (more) people with supplies. I hope the corrupt gov’t is paralyzed enough that all this help can get to those who need it most.
This is tragic. But how is the Dominican Republic doing?
They share the island with Haiti. They must have been affected.
not just no... but HELL no
i pay for enough free loaders already
Anderson Cooper was broadcasting from Port Au Prince last night and said that the Dominican Republic suffered very little damage. I guess the mountains in between the two took the brunt??? Up until now, most of the reporters and churches offering aid, etc., were flying into the D.R. and driving over to Haiti. The US military is getting the Port Au Prince airport operational again, but they will probably control all flights.
I wonder how much aid will be given by charities associated with the “religion of peace”? I seem to recall that during the tsunami that hit south east Asia it was the US, European nations and Christian charities that provided he bulk of the aid to many of the devastated Muslim areas.
I was telling DH last night that the Haitian peoples' lives could be so much better if they would rise up and start taking control of their situation. They have such a beautiful country that could, as you say, be a tourist destination and employ most of the country. A Hilton and a Sandals resort or two would do wonders. There is only one hotel that meets "internation standards" in the whole country.
The pictures simply break your heart, if you have a heart. There are babies and toddlers' little dead bodies laying everywhere and folks that have been injured lying in lines outside of meager little medical clinics, waiting for treatment. One lady's foot had been cut off and she had been waiting in line for 30 hours with no antibiotics or pain relievers. Another had a mangled leg, broken in many places. They are in shock and young thugs are starting to loot and take advantage of what little personal property that may have survived the quake.
To all of the members of this forum that are snearing at offering aid to these people ... grow a heart or stop making kneejerk, snarky remarks. This is a human tragedy, not a bunch of folks with their hands out. You should be ashamed. Is it darn time that, under normal circumstances, Haiti should heal itself? Yes. But this is not a normal situation. The US has foreign aid that is budgeted and is going to be spent ... that is a fact that is not going to change today. Send it to the broken and suffering people of Port Au Prince and make sure that it gets to the folks who need it.
This is not a political issue, nor is it the time to exhibit how hateful you "conservatives" can act.
Teach the Haitians how to play baseball.
The same US military that James Cammeron slurred in the eco-SF cartoon Avatar comes to Hati’s aid.
Exactly, give them a way to make a living. Give them self-respect.
They share the island with Haiti. They must have been affected.
GoogleEarth it.
One can SEE the line dividing the island by the vegetation!
If you look at the map, the epicenter was well away from the DR. Drudge had a map up earlier.
Lately, but don't forget we sent in the troops in 1965 to prevent a communist takeover of DR.
Haiti has plenty of wealth, in real estate and productivity. It has no functioning free market, no concept of the rule of law, and no respect for property rights. If they had these infrastructures they could be self-sustaining today and generate authentic self-respect without our help.
But who is it the world looks to when the fit hits the shan? Good Ole Uncle Sam is there with 100's of Millions of dollars in aide and manpower while the rest of the world sends pennies.
Where is Mr Super-Socialist Chavez, of Castro, or the Arab States or Russia or any of the rest of the nattering nabobs?
They all sit on their asses and kibitz or send token aide and pat themselves on the back while we Americans do all the heavy lifting.
Day by day hour by hour I am becoming an Isolationist and wish that we as a nation would pull all our troops and State dept people back to the USA and then tell the rest of the world to show us how its done.
That would be a dangerous ploy on their part being that this disaster is total devastation. If there is not some serious troops on the ground soon you are going to see severe violence and mayhem. There is waaay too many people and far to few resources. Look for rioting and looting to break out in large scale any minute!
There may be rioting, however ... there is nothing to loot.
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