Posted on 01/16/2010 6:06:39 AM PST by kristinn
ABOARD THE USS CARL VINSON — Helicopters sit ready to go from this US aircraft carrier off Haiti, but there's a problem: after a day of frantic aid runs there is simply nothing left to deliver.
Aboard the warship some 3,500 US military personnel have been coordinating the flights of 19 US helicopters carrying aid since early morning.
SNIP
In less than 12 hours, helicopters from the USS Carl Vinson made some 20 trips to scout the ravaged landscape and deliver items that were originally intended for the ship's crew.
Among the supplies dropped off were thousands of bottles of water and energy drinks, 8,000 sheets and hundreds of camp beds.
Dozens of hospital beds have been arranged on board the ship to accomadate those injured in the quake, including a US citizen evacuated from the US embassy in Port-au-Prince.
SNIP
The relief work also faces logistical and coordination challenges, according to Rear Admiral Ted Branch, the most senior military official aboard the USS Carl Vinson.
"We have lift, we have communications, we have some command and control, but we don't have much relief supplies to offer," said Branch, who commands the battle group led by the nuclear-powered Carl Vinson.
"We have no supplies at the airport that we have access to. There are other supplies there that are under the control of other agencies, other organizations and we haven't yet coordinated together to make those supplies available for anyone to deliver," he added.
SNIP
The commander noted that some supplies remain at the airport, and could easily be delivered by US helicopters.
"The problem is, some people are perhaps not ready to release their stuff to the most efficient transportation makers and want to deliver supplies themselves."
(Excerpt) Read more at google.com ...
“You couldmarshal supplies at the airport and fly them in the Haiti no problem.”
Except that (according to news reports) the only working airport in Haiti is already over capacity - even USAF has problems landing with the hords of private planes from everywere landing and taking off. There appears to be no coordinating authority with the relief efforts. Since there is no functioning Haitian government, no one can grant that authority.
“One hour by helicopter or fixed wing aircraft?”
I’ve been in and out of there a few times. It’s about an hour and a half, hour and forty five by turbo-prop airplane from San Juan. Helicopters, particularly Puerto Rico Army National Guard helicopters, are staging out of the San Isidro Air Base in the Dominican Republic, and it is about a 45 minute flight from there to PaP.
The PRARNG were the first ones at the U.S. Embassy and have been ferrying U.S. victims to San Isidro and carrying supplies and rescue personnel back to PaP since the day after the quake.
Except those ships are not parked in one handy spot. They are scattered around the world in transit or loading and unloading cargo.
There are no good options in lieu of a functioning Haitian govenment - some one in that now nonexistant govenment has to grant the use of forces coming to their aide. Otherwise, it is chaos - which it is.
US merchant fleet?
Last time I checked - years ago - there was basically no US merchant fleet left - other than a few rusting ships in moth balls?
The Obama folks are still trying to figure out how to bring the Hatians up to Boston in time to vote.
I can sort of understand the organization’s reticence. There have been reports of groups of armed citizens, looting, and promoting gang like activity.
If the food is just being “dropped in” via helicopter, who’s to say an armed group isn’t commandeering the food and not distributing it to the needy. Quite a normal thing in Africa, w/out boots on the ground, I imagine it could happen in Haiti too. The relief organizations probably want to get to the places to make sure the food is being distruted fairly.
“The left forms a committee that ponders, thinks and then talks about it...” and then issues reports and white papers, which need further study by committes formed to study the results of the first committees, which then produce results which, if not politically expedient, are ignored, since whatever crisis brought on the thing in the first place was over years ago...
Somebody already seized a supply of food but I don't think they distributed it.
Looters raid U.N. food warehouses in Haiti (The U.N. World Food Program had 15,000 tons of food aid in Haiti prior to Tuesday's 7.0-magnitude earthquake, ...)
Father pleads/cries for President Obama to send more people to Haiti to help find his daughter.
Note to folks in Haiti: If anyone sees people holding up aid shipments so some bloody bureaucrat and/or NGO can play Lady Bountiful, take names and get pics if you can. Put the info out on the web. Don’t wait for the MSM to do it because they won’t. Get the info out there. The people who paid for all that aid will do the rest. God bless you.
“This is an example of a private agency delivering their own aid.” And also why the only airport is a mess - all those small private planes are delaying landings and take offs by USAF cargo planes.
And how many of those 800 are still alive? Most of the delivered supplies are stacked up at the airport. So there is no way those few WV supplies are going to the “800” in any effective manner.
We’re the world’s daddy I guess. It just amazes me that 0bambi can blithely talk about giving all the turd world countries $100 billion dollars for Global Warming but he announces in the gravest tones that he is committing the huge sum of $100 million to help Haiti.
I'm sure that the U.N. at the present moment is doing what it does best: preparing the brothels on the ground that the influx of blue hats will need and are accustomed to.
vaudine
Correct me if I'm misreading this, but they way I interpret it, it means that the organizations that do have supplies to be delivered don't want them delivered unless they are right there to get the credit and recognition.
Please tell me I'm wrong.
You betcha!
:)
You betcha!
:)
I think you’re wrong. I think it means they want to be sure the supplies they have aren’t commandeered by bandits. I heard one reporter in Haiti this morning describe just that happening after a helicopter drop he witnessed. It was immediate.
If Obama is refusing to allow our military to do that...then we owe the people of Haiti our profound apologies for electing that expletive-deleted.
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