“There is no reason why the US merchant fleet cannot deliver aid. “
The aid is already there; sitting at the airport.
It just needs to be delivered into neighborhoods at a more rapid rate.
It would seem helicopters could get it where needed.
The problem is that the US Navy would deliver it to where it was needed, fairly and honestly. The folks in control of the supplies can’t have that. The folks controlling the distribution haven’t arranged for their cut yet.