Five years ago, in days after the Indian Ocean Tsunami, I wrote an op-ed for the Boston Globe–a piece that, with the Haiti disaster, remains a relevant cautionary tale today: The tsunami response, being hailed as one of the biggest U.S. military disaster relief missions in history, has been less effective than portrayed. (snip) With the Haiti earthquake, we’ll discover that a lot has changed in the space of five years. Today, in the aftermath of this earthquake, the initial response will be enormous. Unlike the Indonesian Tsunami, our initial aid may end up becoming a long-term commitment–lest we wish...
