Posted on 01/17/2010 8:09:50 PM PST by blam
Why Is The Haiti Disaster Response So Screwed Up: Is Another Katrina Relief Effort In The Making?
Politics / Social Issues
Jan 17, 2010 - 04:50 AM
By: Danny Schechter
Every disaster plan is built to some degree around the idea of triage—deciding who can and cannot be saved. The worst cases are often separated and allowed to perish so that others who are considered more survivable can be treated.
There is a tragic triage underway in Haiti thanks to screw-ups on the part of the US and western response, and in part because of the objectively tough conditions in Haiti that blocked access and made the delivery of food, water and services difficult. But the planners should have known that!
Look at the TV coverage. “Saving Haiti” is the title CNN has given to its coverage. It shows us all the planes landing, and donations coming in and celebrity response on one hand, and then the problems/failures to actually deliver aid on the other.
Much of the coverage focuses on the upbeat--people being saved, although despite the frame which is about a compassionate America's response, the Haitian reality is only barelygetting through. It's not pretty.
Everyone wants to believe in the best intentions of all involved but five days after the quake, with so few being helped, we have to ask, how did this get so badly done?
It’s like Obama’s plan to stop foreclopsures through modifying loans. Great idea, but only a handful of homeowners have benefited. There is often a yawning gap between the idea and its execution.
So what happened? The short answer: it is too little and, in many cases, much of it, too late. A natural disaster has been compounded by another well-intentioned man-made one
Why? One global report I saw—sorry forget the publication, explained:
“United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon emphasized the importance of the first 72 hours following the 12 January disaster. But already much of that crucial time has been spent attempting to assess the situation.
[snip]
obama doesn’t like black people much.
You can tell by his response.
Why do we have to have a UN mandate to defend ourselves, but not to give away free stuff?
Why does anybody think its screwed up? Because everyone is not saved and well fed yet?
Yes, immediate response is necessary, but it's week 3 and 4 they needed to especially plan for as well.
That is when large numbers of people will start dying from infections, disease, lack of clean water and violence.
They needed to move round-the-clock from minute one in order to reopen the seaport and have a sea-supplied massive refugee camp operating by week three, from which large numbers of people in the city can be supplied with water, food, medicine, safety and sanitation.
I hope I'm wrong, but the failure of the Obama admin on this score may cost the lives of tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of Haitians in the coming weeks. Tragically, the result seems to be baked in the cake at this point.
Bush’s fault.
Just wait.
Right. All of those so-called "planners" knew there was going to be an earthquake in Haiti. And why didn't the Haitian "planners" make plans for a possible earthquake? Is it the responsibility of the rest of the world to look after Haiti? What a whining, stupid article.
Cuba is less than 100 miles from Haiti, yet I have not heard one word about Castro sending any doctors or medical supplies from the famous Cuban healthcare system. Castro can’t be bothered with helping those in need.
The Haiti response is not screwed up and the Katrina response was not screwed up. These disasters over large areas are incredibly difficult to address adequately within a few days, and there are all sorts of complicating factors such as the two or three days of dangerous inland weather after Katrina hit, and the clogged airport on Haiti and the poor road system that is also cluttered and damaged.
The problem is nitwit reporters and politicians who have no understanding of the situations, or are deliberately criticizing for political purposes, and most likely both.
Just like on 24, the CTU being headed up by one nobama’s czars show the brothas can’t work a deal more complicated than scoring a dime bag of crack.
Yep. This is how disasters play out. Nothing unusual here when society breaks down. This is why people should be prepared to bug out and/or survive on their own.
>> Article: “Much of the coverage focuses on the upbeat”
It’s important the coverage is positive - but, it needs to be realistic as well.
Unfortunately, the coverage of Katrina was framed with the pretext that the catastrophe was Bush’s fault.
Fools Rush In. Where others fear to tread. Haiti was a disaster area before the Earthquake. I was there recently. Anyone who has not experienced it has no idea what we are getting in to. 100 million would not even be a start. We are making a great mistake and the rest of the world is laughing at us. We better get the military out of there and just send aid. SOON!
Earthquake hit at 5:30pmish on Tuesday, right? When is it you think the U.S. hospital ship Comfort left it’s dock in Baltimore? Especially knowing the distance between MD and Haiti? Any guesses?
How about yesterday? Yeah...Saturday. Unreal.
http://wtop.com/index.php?nid=836&sid=1862996 It’s quite a stunner to learn that it takes 5 whole days to prepare a hospital ship for deployment.
http://www.wusa9.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=95915&provider=top Five days..which makes you wonder what the point is, after all. You know how many lives are lost in the first 5 days of a natural disaster?
While Obama is not to blame for that (sounds systemic to me), I’d sure figure out a better way to deploy within 24 hours. By the time they get to Haiti, it will be almost a week since the earthquake hit.
And Ret. General Honore is not a happy camper:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2010-01-15-general-criticizes-response_N.htm
You Got It!
http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/shores-port-au-prince
You are so right.
>> Just like on 24, the CTU being headed up by one nobama’s czar show the brothas ...
Nonsense.
IIRC, the response to the Indian Ocean Tsunami was very fast and outstanding, and it is on the other side of the world.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.