Posted on 01/15/2010 6:23:42 PM PST by Jet Jaguar
ARLINGTON, Va. — Top defense officials have ruled out airdropping food, water and medical supplies over Haiti, fearing that chaos would be the unintended result.
“It seems to me that without having any structure on the ground, in terms of distribution, that an airdrop is simply going to lead to riots as people try and go after that stuff,” said Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Friday.
On Thursday, an Air Force official said that a lack of fuel and equipment was slowing air operations at the Port-au-Prince airport.
The first of the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson’s 19 helicopters have since arrived in the Haitian capital, and they will be critical to distributing relief supplies, Gates said.
A force of between 9,000 and 10,000 U.S. servicemembers is on its way to Haiti, said Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
A large portion of those troops will remain on ships off the island’s coast, but the Defense Department is “poised” to send more ground forces if the head of U.S. Southern Command and the commander on the ground feel it’s necessary, Mullen said.
U.S. troops’ primary mission will be to deliver relief supplies, not provide security, Gates said.
Right now, the security situation in Haiti “remains OK,” he said.
“The key is to get the food and the water in there as quickly as possible, so that people don’t in their desperation turn to violence,” he said.
The 2,000 Marines headed to Haiti are capable of conducting a variety of missions ranging from humanitarian relief to combat operations, said Capt. Clark Carpenter, a spokesman for the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit.
“We’ll be able to support any number of things that come at us,” Carpenter said Friday. “We’re able to support more than just the relief effort, if that’s necessary.”
The Marines are expected to arrive off Haiti next week.
When asked if the U.S. response to the Haitian earthquake is moving quickly enough, Gates said he did not see how it could have been faster.
“There are just some certain facts of life that affect how quickly you can do some of these things,” he said. “The collapse of the infrastructure in Haiti, the small size of the airport, the time it takes a ship to get from Point A to Point B — those are all just facts of life,” he said.
The UN is being its usual worthless self. Gen. Russel Honore is the only person I’ve heard who talks sense — too bad he’s not in charge.
The UN pulling doctors and supplies from a field hospital with sick and dying patients today was unconscienable.
What about the kind of MRE drops we did in Afghanistan or Iraq (shame on me, I can’t remember which). My (sketchy) memory is that they were pretty successful.
Exactly! Little packages and lots of them!! Drop them all over the place and keep them coming. Just get the water and some food in with first-aid kits, and ease the immediate needs.
Where are the brains in this rescue debacle?
And from what I understand, most of these MRE’s were scooped up my the local tribal chiefs and doled out to the faithful.
Ya, well, the point is to try and save, not kill em.
Ranger is a bad choice.
US Army Engineers, US NAve SeeBees, USAF Red Horse - now those would be a good choice.
Got blocked roads? - send in M9 Engineering vehicles.
At some point, things will get better - I just don’t know when that will be...
The goons with the sharpest machetes will get to the dropped supplies first.
Leni
I’m sure you’ve seen this...
Just like we did in Afghanistan. Remember Chris Matthews calling the food packets ridiculous?
:supply and demand. just “drop” in overwhelming force to outnumber the demand. carpet bomb the place with provisions.”
Bundles of bottled water, gloves and dried food would seem to be a smart thing to bundle together and drop in.
I saw the tape of that drop in A-stan,,,
Seemed to work well,,,But,,,
IIRC the drop-zone was a large clear area,,,not sure,,,
That was only MRE’s,,,no water,,,
The MRE’s I have are 12” X 7.5”,,,12.4 oz. ,,,
I guess these would fall generally flat,,,?
Mite not hurt too bad if they hit somebody,,,
A 12 oz. bottle of water would kill,,,
No time to repackage,,,
Then there’s the number of people,,,
2-3 million,,,?
This will take ship loads,,,
Hopefully the Navy can get the port up and running and
the road fixed soon,,,
Sadly time is running out for many of the little kids...
Cholera is the main concern, contaminated water supplies
bad sanitation and it could run through the survivors
very fast. Bottled water and electrolytes will help but
a lot of people ARE GOING TO DIE!!!
This operation will be a real teaching tool in years to
come.
Agree, well said.
They're already rioting. What you want to prevent is people being trampled to death in a mad stampede for food (which will be blamed on us). There's also the consideration that the stronger element, armed with guns or machetes, will take all the supplies (which will also be blamed on us).
I believe the US Military has enough experience with Haiti to somewhat accurately predict the outcome of certain scenarios.
Ordering doctors out of hospitals. Probably to help some official who stubbed his toe.
One of my favorite shows from the 70’s. I love Herb Tarlek. He’s such a fool.
No, first time. Logistically foolish. People will die, some here don’t want to accept that. There is no law and order on Haiti, probably wasn’t much before the quake, airdrops might help a few but at a cost that isn’t sustainable.
Honore: U.S. military should have reached Haiti sooner
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/01/14/haiti.us.aid/?hpt=T2
Hey Zone...
I took a look at videos of Haiti BEFORE the earthquake...I actually think the rubble has covered the filth seen in the poorest areas, and throughout the city. It was terrible before this happened.
I also listened to videos which spoke of the governance, elections and about and from the people. From this alone it is no wonder really why this nation has done so poorly.
The people remind me very much of Dark Africa, as it’s been called. In their beliefs and how they view life. I don’t believe possible to change this nation much from what it has been. They are unwilling to allow others to jumpstart them, rather only rescue each and every time these crisies occur.
The thugs are barbaric when they take control, and they do rule in many parts of haiti. The leadership that has been and currently uses these thugs to protect them from another coup.Meanwhile the thugs terrorize the population.
The danger for people that want to help is great there, especially now as the days pass. Just a bad situtation overall.
I agree 100%.
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.