Posted on 01/15/2010 4:39:58 PM PST by kristinn
We watched Friday as aircraft arrived nonstop, carrying massive amounts of food, water and U.S. military personnel along with it.
Some 20,000 large water containers arrived today and 80,000 more are on the USS Carl Vinson off the coast of Haiti, along with 600,000 daily food rations which are continually flowing in.
But all this effort and all these supplies moving does not mean Haitians are getting the large supplies of food and water that they need. Instead, most of the supplies are sitting idle at the airport.
The widespread distribution of desperately needed supplies to Haiti's earthquake victims won't happen until tomorrow.
Stuck In the Pipeline Lt. Gen. Ken Keen, who is overseeing the operation, says he wishes things were moving faster but there are procedures that must be followed.
"Security is the issue" he said, "What has to happen from a planning and a coordination part has to happen with the United Nations, the government of Haiti and all the relief organizations."
We went around to various aid organizations asking the same question: why aren't these supplies getting to the people who need them?
Security Is Key We were told this is a layered effort. First, the government of Haiti must choose distribution points, the World Food program then works up a distribution plan and then U.N. forces in Haiti provide security with the help of the U.S. military to get the food out. The bottom line: it's not going to happen until tomorrow.
Meanwhile, the people wait.
After a day of asking questions, we have an idea why there is such a wait for supplies. But the Haitians don't, they have no communications.
"We have no idea why we are waiting," said one person.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
I’m not saying they’re not attempting to help themselves and lord knows nobody can be prepared completely for a situation like this. They however had no preparation at all. They have done nothing to build up their country despite billions upon billions in aid over the year. I can tell you other carribean nations would have at least been able to make a start at helping their people.
So go somwhere else for your handout. I don't remember the big outpouring of help from Haiti when Katrina hit.
At one election they had over 150 candidates, who knows what process they use to whittle that down,payoffs are quite common over there. Only one reason why the best of the bunch seldom are chosen.
You are quite right however they do have many capable leaders of Haitian decent,most are here.
The Puppeteers Are Struggling!
Obamah: ...Is This Chicago?
Haitian: ...No, This is Haiti!
Obamah: ...What Union?
exactly
I see no reason why we are to b lame when their own president leaves the country because his palace is done over.
we cannot have them here on welfare and they should be over there building their own country with us helping i the background with logistics but don’t start moaning about us not doing enough . it is not us who should be the world bank and everything else
they come here they will stay here and we have no money for that.
the world hates us and yet they want our money etc
on this I don’t see how they can blame obama and believe me I blame him for a lot but not this.
At some point a people must grab their destiny and do something good with it. Simply kicking out the French(who hasn’t?) was a starting point. They apparently thought it ended there.
Than came the end of security in 84, and ever since much of Haiti has descended into a no man's land.
they want and want and yet we have given them billions over the last few years , where did the money go
their president leave because he can’t live in his palace but we get the blame because they want more and it is not coming quick enough
since when did they become another state?
we’re doing the best we can and if it were me over there I would be happy with what I could get
and no way should we bring them voer ehre like obama wants to.
if we make them sta there and let them build their own country then they will have more pride for it once it has been built.
notice how they mention the first black president too.
they want and want and yet we have given them billions over the last few years , where did the money go
their president leave because he can’t live in his palace but we get the blame because they want more and it is not coming quick enough
since when did they become another state?
we’re doing the best we can and if it were me over there I would be happy with what I could get
and no way should we bring them voer ehre like obama wants to.
if we make them stay there and let them build their own country then they will have more pride for it once it has been built.
notice how they mention the first black president too.
this was happening before the earth quake let not forget that the island was a cesspit of crime and killings.
the media seem to forget that, we’re doing our best right now as is everyone else and they need to stop blaming us on this
The future opbviously isn't here yet, but I'm wondering if there'll be a PR disaster this time because there's a different president.
Its all i’m stating. They have been given plenty,done nothing with it.
yeah, it's not like it was the race to replace Gray Davis of Kalifornia ... oh, wait
The first aircraft into the area should have been delivering the basics for getting the supplies distributed. And that might well be what's happening. For one thing they know they will need a very serious security presence. Without some protection for both the supplies and the suppliers any effort will be wasted.
This is a country and an area more primitive than most of us can even imagine. Even if you get the trucks there you still have to worry about roads to drive on for delivery.
So much of what you and I think would be critical for the recovery effort would be useless even if it were there right now. No forklifts to unload cargo. No port to handle ships bring supplies, and no cranes to unload the ships even if they get there. Communication is non-existent so there's no way to know what's needed where. Even if there weren't a million or more people with no where to sleep and nothing to eat it would still be a huge problem getting what is needed into the country and then throughout the country.
And sadly, this is a situation for which our military is not well prepared to handle because it's not what a military force is for. They are geared up so support themselves, not for distributing thousands of tons of food and water and other emergency items.
Think about how badly New Orleans went after Katrina. And that was a city located on several Interstate highways, with all sorts roads coming and going. This is a country 600 miles, by water, from here.
I fear this is going to go badly, and there's not a thing anyone can do to prevent it from coming off as a huge screw up by those who are willing to help. The world is simply not geared up to handle this kind of event. It's going to take weeks or months to get enough people and stuff into there and spread around.
Maybe when he’s done golfing Obama can go to Port Au Prince and help them “organize” their community...whatever that means.
The smart Haitians walked out of the major cities days ago and are up in the hills... They will survive even if they have to eat bugs and leaves, the city dwellers are toast for the most part.
Hey, “Jean Claude’’, STFU,ok? And start helping yourselves till we get there, Christ Almighty, what have you people done with the money we’ve been sending for years?. If you and your people had gotten off your asses years ago and did something with that pest-hole of a place, you might be in a better position to start helping yourselves now. And incidently, you Haitians are NOT the first blacks to put a ‘’mark’’ on liberty. Blacks in America did that during our revolution.
No. They've never done for themselves. Besides, where did it become the taxpayers of America's job to provide for the world? After we help them in their emergency as kind Americans, it's time to ween them off of our tit....along with the Iraqis, the Afghans, the Ethiopians, the Sudanese, etc.
I agree
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