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Haiti’s humanitarian disaster has rightfully elicited an outpouring of support from around the world. But the tragedy should also elicit outrage because the massive destruction, suffering and loss of life were largely avoidable. Natural disasters, such as hurricanes and floods that have regularly afflicted Haiti, have plagued mankind throughout history. As the world has become wealthier, the ability to cope with such calamities has grown; annual deaths due to such disasters have declined by 96 percent since the 1920s. Economic growth has made it possible for countries around the world, increasingly including developing nations, to mitigate damage done by “acts...

PAKTYA PROVINCE, Afghanistan – Capt. Ghulam Habiib, commander of 3rd Co., 1st Kandak of the Afghan National Army, gives a hand crank radio to a girl at Sar Mast Kheyl village, Jan. 16. The radio is among the supplies provided by NATO’s International Security Assistance Force so the Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police could conduct a humanitarian aid mission to three poverty-stricken villages. The hope is that the mission will increase the legitimacy of the ANA and ANP as institutions and counter Taliban misinformation about the government.(Photo by Spc. Spencer case, 304th Public Affairs Detachment) Story by Spc. Spencer...

Most of us have heard that the US government and private charities plan to import thousands of Haitian orphans to America. Has America gone crazy? For years, we have been told of the large number of American children (many of whom are minorities) who are in foster care, and in institutions, who cannot get families to adopt them. There is also a large number of American children (mainly teenagers) who sleep in the streets, and do not have the support of foster homes or insitutions. There are also many homeless people in America, who cannot find beds in overcrowded homeless...

The images from Haiti are, if anything, only getting worse. What was left of an already fragile society is starting to break down, as violence and chaos take over. Despite the heroic efforts of aid workers and the battered Haitian government, it looks as if Haiti’s problems will persist well into the 21st century, long after the debris is cleared and the houses are rebuilt. While the scope of the tragedy in Haiti is nearly impossible to exaggerate, it’s important to remember that last week’s earthquake was so deadly because Haiti is Haiti. If a similarly powerful earthquake were to...

CNN Elizabeth Cohen interviews makeshift medical tent personnel on January 18, 2010. Asking Harvard Medical Dr. Jennifer Furin, "Have the American's set up a field hosptial?" "Currently, not yet....

UN chief Ban Ki-moon has appealed for patience as anger mounts in Haiti over the tardiness of the relief effort and aid groups criticize the US management of the airport. Yet most German papers argue that the superpower is vital in helping the devastated country recover from the disaster. The aid is starting to get through to Haiti. But it is insufficient and it is not reaching enough of the people who desperately need it. As the United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon appeals to Haitians for patience, and the United States prepares to send in more troops, the European Union...

It's been a week since Port-au-Prince was destroyed by an earthquake. In the days ahead, Haitians will undergo another trauma as rescue efforts struggle, and often fail, to keep pace with unfolding emergencies. After that—and most disastrously of all—will be the arrival of the soldiers of do-goodness, each with his brilliant plan to save Haitians from themselves. "Haiti needs a new version of the Marshall Plan—now," writes Andres Oppenheimer in the Miami Herald, by way of complaining that the hundreds of millions currently being pledged are miserly. Economist Jeffrey Sachs proposes to spend between $10 and $15 billion dollars on...

These are not the observations of paid strangers venturing into Haiti only for so long as the earthquake and the loss of human life garner the label, newsworthy. These are the observations of those living in Haiti who have been called there by God to serve the Haitian people in His name. These missionaries were in Haiti long before the earthquake and will remain there long after the news crews leave. These missionaries experience the poverty and tragedy and joy of Haiti on a daily basis and now they need your help.

Caught on film on a Brazilian TV program... saying that this catastrophe is "good for us". Video

Print Email Share Add to My Stories MTV, Clooney team up for Haiti telethon Posted 6 hours 34 minutes ago Updated 6 hours 2 minutes ago George Clooney George Clooney will host the January 22 event. (Getty Images: Francois Durand) * Related Story: Wyclef Jean in Haiti aid appeal MTV says it is working with George Clooney to stage a telethon for Haitian earthquake relief. It will be held on January 22. A representative for the music television network says finer details are still being worked out. Host Clooney is expected to be joined by as yet unnamed movie and...

More than 400 members of an international aid convoy to Gaza declared a hunger strike on Sunday to protest Egypt's refusal to allow them entry into the Hamas-ruled territory via the Red Sea. Amongst the hunger strikers is an 85-year-old Holocaust survivor who came from the U.S. to participate in the planned Gaza Freedom March to commemorate last year's Gaza war.

Maj. John Walton from Pine Bush, N.Y., operations officer, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, talks with an Iraqi child during a joint humanitarian aid delivery in the village of Sudoor, Dec. 18. Photo by Spc Anderson Savoy, 145th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment. DIYALA — Iraqi Army Soldiers took the lead in planning and conducting a combined humanitarian aid delivery to displaced persons living in the village of Sudoor, Diyala province, Dec. 18. The supplies were delivered by the 20th Brigade, 5th IA Division to Sunni Arabs who were removed from their homes...

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Students aren't the only ones benefiting from the billions of new dollars Washington is spending on college aid for the poor. An Associated Press analysis shows surging proportions of both low-income students and the recently boosted government money that follows them are ending up at for-profit schools, from local career colleges to giant publicly traded chains such as the University of Phoenix, Kaplan and Devry.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton offered aid on Tuesday to boost ties with the Muslim world and urged Israel, the Palestinians and Arab countries to move beyond recrimination in the search for peace. "We are determined and persistent in the pursuit of that goal," she said in a speech at a development forum in Morocco attended by Arab ministers. Hoping to cast the United States as a helpful partner in development for Muslim communities, Clinton outlined a series of small steps to increase funding for civil society groups, youth empowerment and job promotion. "We are committed to building ladders...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 15, 2009 – The U.S. Embassy in Islamabad strongly condemned today's terrorist attacks in Pakistan, vowing continued U.S. support to help Pakistan combat violence. The embassy issued the condemnation of the attacks as President Barack Obama signed a law that provides $7.5 billion in nonmilitary aid to Pakistan over the next five years. The funds are part of a comprehensive plan that recognizes the importance of confronting the root causes of extremism as well as extremists themselves. The new law will provide $1.5 billion each year from 2010 to 2014 for schools, hospitals, roads, agricultural aid, roadwork and...

THE top American commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, is right to warn that efforts to rebuild that country depend on winning the “struggle to gain the support of the people.” And few issues do more to stoke the resentment of ordinary Afghans than the tens of billions of dollars of foreign aid from which they have seen little or no benefit. Peter Bergen is a senior fellow at the New America Foundation. Sameer Lalwani is a research fellow there.

FORWARD OPERATING BASE WARRIOR, Iraq, Oct. 8, 2009 – U.S. soldiers provided humanitarian aid to Iraqis in an area locals refer to as the “Lost City.” A week after completing a clearing operation led by Iraqi forces, soldiers of Bravo Battery, 3rd Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment, delivered essential supplies Oct. 3 to the small, impoverished neighborhood of Huzzeran, near Kirkuk. In the “Lost City,” jobs are few and far between. Drinkable water is not readily available, and the school lacks running water. “Things are bad here; people here don’t have work or anything really,” said Mohammed Sadek, a teacher...

DETROIT (WXYZ) - Thousands of people jammed into Cobo Hall and lined up around the building to seek out housing aid from the federal government. It quickly turned into a mess with reports of fights and nearly a stampede. People started lining up around midnight, but the real chaos broke out near the front entrance that leads to the ballroom. Thousands of people jammed into too tight of a space. There were reports of fights and people passing out in the crowd.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 5, 2009 – As the U.S. military continues to provide assistance to victims of storms and earthquakes in the Philippines and Indonesia, tsunami relief operations in American Samoa are tapering off, a Defense Department spokesman said here today. The humanitarian-relief operation in American Samoa “is essentially winding down,” Bryan Whitman told reporters. The U.S. territory in the Pacific Ocean was hit by an earthquake-caused tsunami Sept. 29. Eleven C-17 cargo-plane missions provided nearly 700,000 pounds of supplies, blankets, electricity generators, vehicles and other help to American Samoans, Whitman said. A 14-member civil-support team from the Hawaii National Guard...

ARLINGTON, Va., Oct. 5, 2009 – The Hawaii National Guard’s medical mission in American Samoa wrapped up over the weekend, but 14 Guardsmen with the state’s civil support team will remain there to conduct joint hazardous-material and damage assessment operations, Guard officials reported today. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Lisa Bartolome of the Hawaii Air National Guard's 154th Medical Group shows an American Samoan boy how to make a paper airplane at the Congressional Christian Church of American Samoa in the Fafatiua village, Oct. 2, 2009. The Hawaii Air National Guard provided basic medical care to residents after a tsunami struck...