Posted on 01/16/2010 11:53:53 AM PST by Red in Blue PA
Washington (CNN) -- The retired general who took charge of relief efforts in New Orleans, Louisiana, after Hurricane Katrina said Thursday that the U.S. military should have arrived in earthquake-devastated Haiti 24 hours earlier.
"The good Samaritans who moved early on the first day are to be applauded. They made a difference," said Lt. Gen. Russel Honore, a CNN contributor.
"What we've got to do now is get the heavy equipment in. I thought the U.S. military could have been there a day earlier. They're on the ground now, and they have a brigade en route, and that's going to make a big difference," he said.
Honore, best known for his management of the recovery efforts after the hurricane that killed about 2,000 people on the Gulf Coast, said "time is of the essence" in helping quake survivors.
..
Regarding the airport, he said, "You need to put the right commander there who's going to be a battle captain and keep those aircraft flowing. You come in, you drop off what you have, you put the sick and wounded on and then move out. No one is standing any time on the airfield. You can be in and out in a half hour."
Speaking at the House Democratic Caucus Retreat later Thursday, Obama acknowledged the scrutiny focused on U.S. response.
"This is a time when the world looks to us and they say -- given our capacity, given our unique capacity to project power around the world -- that we have to project that not just for our own interests but for the interests of the world as a whole," he said. "And my national security team understands that I will not put up with any excuses for us not doing the very best in this time of tragedy."
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Everyone is starting to get frustrated, and rightfully so. Honore is 100% correct.....on CNN last night he said that in a situation like this security can never be guaranteed 100%. As such, move supplies in as fast as possible.
That is not currently being done. Was surprised that Honore shared my frustation and was so open with his criticism. My respect for him only grew, as people sometimes do not offer criticism when the should.
Honore is a stand up guy.
Our military should be used for military purposes not meals on wheels. The UN, Red Cross and other charitable organizations should take care of the humanitarium work.
What has that got to do with anything. If you think it is so important, then go. Then you can be a Christian, not only in name.
If I had medical skills, I would be there.
The fact that so many here can only snipe at what is being done is absolutely pathetic.
Agreed. Not a job for the military and this guy should GO THERE instead of insulting people at FR by questioning their religious beliefs when they don’t think we should be pouring our money down a black hole.
Ridiculous red in blue pa
When did Hussein give the order?
This is the maoist’s way of saying it’s not his fault.
Someone else took too long.
This lying dirtbag is pathetic.
You can't say that. He doesn't hate the light-skinned ones.
Zero is a Narcissist. One of the characteristics of N's is that they hate everyone - including themselves.
what is was politically incorrect for Honore to state (and he didn’t) was that the UN is largely the problem in Haiti. Any murdering, raping and pillaging ‘machete wielding yoots’ in NOLA were dispatched forthwith to their maker under Honore, and aid proceeded relatively risk free - not so in Haiti where the UN will not authorize live fire and huddles at the airport like scared mice.
Honore should have recognized that the USAF was at the airport within hours and had flight control established in less than 12 under protection of Marines. The president of Haiti’s response to this was to demand a ‘landing tax’ on relief flights (according to a CNN reporter) and throw a hissy fit over ‘sovereignty’. The UN’s reaction was to throw a hissy fit over who was “officially in control”, both wasting precious hours on politics.
You don’t need medical skills. If you are so unhappy with the way things are progressing, then go there and help distribute food, clean up in the hospitals, cook, empty bed pans, etc. There is plenty to do for you.
Stop preaching how insensitive, selfish and unChristian we are. Go, go do work there and show the rest of us selfish b*stards how wonderful you are.
And while there, make sure you post on FR and remind us how great you are.
Thank you!
In any situation there are going to be bottlenecks that limit how much can be done, regardless of the good intentions of those doing the work. In this case it's the airport, a port, and Haiti's primitive infrastructure that will set the limits on how much can be done how quickly.
A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. The weak link in this chain is Haiti, its people and infrastructure. The simply cannot support the kind of pressure the US military could bring to bear on the situation.
You can't get nine ladies pregnant and have a baby in one month. Some things just take time and nothing can be done to change that.
It's always oh so easy to sit back and take pot shots at the ones who are doing the job. I take great pride in knowing that regardless of how hard it is, there's no organization in the history of the world that could do a better job than the US military.
I hope and pray that Obama and his minions recognize that that's OUR military, OUR men and women doing the job, and there's no reason on God's green earth for him to be going around the world apologizing for what we do and how we do it.
Say what he wants, when ANYONE on Earth dials 911, the phone rings in the United States, and not just in Washington, but all across the country!
And I think that, starting with Tuesday's special election, Obama is about to get a lesson in what it means to the world to have a USA on the other end of that phone!
True, Republicans dropped the ball when they were given control, but I don't think anyone would dispute that the mess the Dems have made since they took over makes the Republicans look like minor league players.
YUP,
Epic messiah FAIL.
Watched Greta last night with Rove.
Rove stated that there are 27 FEMA dog rescue teams and not one is working in Haiti yet and some are still waiting to be flown out of the USA while China DOES have dog rescue teams on the ground searching.
Epic FAIL Barry
I agree that you can never provide 100% security, but for the key people like search and rescue workers, doctors, etc. those who are saving lives hour by hour and minute by minute, they deserve to have some reasonable sense of security, otherwise, you won't have those people willing to volunteer and risk their lives to help out the next time something like this happens.
It's a sad situation.
Could not agree more. I just have a hard time believing it takes 4 days to get security forces ready to go in to protect rescue forces.
DO they never train for something like this? What if something like this happened here? Would it take 4 days????
IMO, that is disturbing.
The Red Cross is not accepting volunteers to travel to Haiti now, but both they and the International Medical Corps say that later, they may need volunteer health-care personnel.
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-News/2010/0115/Haiti-relief-work-How-you-can-volunteer-now
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