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I’d like to know why the supplies are not being distributed from the airport expeditiously.

“I’d like to know why the supplies are not being distributed from the airport expeditiously.”

....... Witnesses reported gangs of young men armed with machetes stalking through the capital. As the security situation continued to deteriorate, UN peacekeepers warned aid workers they needed to travel with guards.

There is simply no system for moving large amounts of anything quickly throughout Haiti. They didn't have the system before the quake and they certainly don't have it now that so much damage has been done to infrastructure, and I use that term very loosely.

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.