Tragedy in Haiti

[Furunculus]

Danny Glover speaks: failure at Copenhagen to blame for Haiti tragedy, not geology -
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/ja...-danny-glover/

[Fragony]

A hint of light in the darkness http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worl....html?ITO=1490

[Louis VI the Fat]

Apparently, the US annexed the Airport, they say it's "US Territory" now
Them yankees taking every opportunity to annex things

Do you need to insult the Americans over their desperate effort to save what can be saved?

America is leading the salvation effort. The evil Yanks reopened the devastated aiport for relief efforts. It is both a great show of decisiveness and skill, and absolutely crucial for opening up Haiti for relief.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – A major obstacle to delivering aid to Haiti began to be cleared Friday, as the U.S. Air Force brought order to the chaotic Port-au-Prince airport.
In another sign of progress, the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson took up position off Haiti's coast and began to fly water and other badly needed supplies to land. Despite these and other advances, hundreds of thousands of Haitians remain stranded in dire conditions.


Earlier, authorities had been forced to turn away aid flights when the large influx of aircraft overwhelmed the facility's small tarmac. But by daybreak, a 115-person Air Force team, which flew in five C-17 cargo planes of communications and air-traffic management equipment overnight, had undone most of the logjam. A steady stream of flights arrived and departed without difficulty even during the pre-dawn hours, the first time the airport was able to accept nighttime flights since the quake.


The Vinson, a nuclear-powered ship with a crew of more than 3,000, is the largest American vessel to reach Haiti since a powerful earthquake Tuesday killed thousands of people and destroyed large swaths of Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital.
The Vinson and the Air Force team join the rapidly expanding contingent of U.S. troops deployed to Haiti.



More than 3,000 soldiers from the Army's 82nd Infantry Division will be on the ground in Haiti this weekend, and the USS Bataan, an amphibious ship carrying 2,200 Marines, is slated to arrive off the coast of Haiti next week alongside the USNS Comfort, the military's largest medical ship.
Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Friday that up to 10,000 American troops will be operating in or near Haiti by Monday. Adm. Mullen, the nation's top military officer, said the size of the U.S. military commitment could grow even larger in coming days.


http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...s_Most_Popular

[Crazed Rabbit]

Danny Glover speaks: failure at Copenhagen to blame for Haiti tragedy, not geology -
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/ja...-danny-glover/

Lemur's disease is spreading fast in this thread!

And a big to Skullhead.

CR

[Lemur]

Reports of movement, along with non-stop stories of heartbreaking, mind-numbing sadness.

The International Federation of the Red Cross says a convoy carrying a "huge amount" of aid is heading overland from the Dominican Republic to quake-struck Haiti.

The IFRC says the aid includes a 50-bed field hospital, surgical teams and an emergency telecommunications unit.

[Spokesman Paul Conneally] told The Associated Press by phone from Santo Domingo on Saturday that the convoy is traveling overland because "it's not possible to fly anything into Port-au-Prince right now because the airport is completely congested."

Meanwhile, the drug-addled radio race baiter seems determined to make this tragedy all about him. His latest is suggesting that the White House web page will somehow steal your money when it links you to charities. No, really.

Justin of Raleigh, North Carolina: "Why does Obama say if you want to donate some money, you could go to whitehouse.gov to direct you how to do so? If I wanted to donate to the Red Cross, why do I have to go to the White House page to donate?"

Limbaugh: "Exactly. Would you trust the money's gonna go to Haiti?"

Justin: "No."

Rush: "But would you trust that your name's gonna end up on a mailing list for the Obama people to start asking you for campaign donations for him and other causes?"

Justin: "Absolutely!"

Limbaugh: "Absolutely!"

I know, I know, don't feed the trolls. But this troll has a following of at least ten million, so ignoring his amoral flame-baiting isn't helpful either.

[Brenus]

The logistic will be immense:
Emergency
Food, Water, shelters, clothes cleaning of the roads and accesses, collect of the corps, inhumation, vaccination, and sanitation.

Just to give an idea:
Daily Need for a person (figures UNWFP/UNHCR)
Wheat: 400 g; feculent 60 g; oil: 30 g, fish/meat/cheese: 40 g; Sugar: 25 g, Salt: 5 g.
Water for drinking, cooking, toilet and washing: 3 l.

Then you add the milk (clean water needed) and the HI-protein Biscuits from babies and pregnants, and the need in blankets, in fire woods, in cooking pots and all boxes which can stock water and rice...

Knowing you have a window of 2 months to collect money and material before it vanish totaly from the news if you lucky to have a good PR...

[Hosakawa Tito]

Security concerns.

Search and rescue must trump security. ... They need to man up and get back in there.
--Retired Army Lt. Gen. Russell Honoré

Man up indeed. Leaving critically injured people because of irrational fears of what? Afraid of poor desperate people? They should have refused to leave.

[Crazed Rabbit]

Meanwhile, the drug-addled radio race baiter seems determined to make this tragedy all about him. His latest is suggesting that the White House web page will somehow steal your money when it links you to charities. No, really.

I have to agree with Ebert.

Man up indeed. Leaving critically injured people because of irrational fears of what? Afraid of poor desperate people? They should have refused to leave.

Indeed.

CR

[Brenus]

“Man up indeed. Leaving critically injured people because of irrational fears of what? Afraid of poor desperate people? They should have refused to leave.”

From experience, be afraid of desperate people. I can’t judge what happened on the field but I had an experience when providing humanitarian relief was dangerous. Without my driver who just pushed me, a desperate crowd that wanted right now what I was bringing would have at least seriously injured me. And it was not a tragedy of that scale…

When a more than 1000 men and women, fighting for their survival, run to you, you are dead. Hence the importance or logistic and professionalism…

[Hosakawa Tito]

These doctors had no supplies to take. All they had was their knowledge/expertise and ability to improvise treatment as best one can. Desperate rioters might resort to violence over food & water, I don't think they'd react that way over a team of doctors. The U.N. supervisors over-reacted.

[Fragony]

Here I am at my most cynical. none of my money ever got as far as Indonesia at the time, I will just feel good about being sorry for them but charity can find another host.

[Jolt]

Security concerns.



Man up indeed. Leaving critically injured people because of irrational fears of what? Afraid of poor desperate people? They should have refused to leave.

“Man up indeed. Leaving critically injured people because of irrational fears of what? Afraid of poor desperate people? They should have refused to leave.”

From experience, be afraid of desperate people. I can’t judge what happened on the field but I had an experience when providing humanitarian relief was dangerous. Without my driver who just pushed me, a desperate crowd that wanted right now what I was bringing would have at least seriously injured me. And it was not a tragedy of that scale…

When a more than 1000 men and women, fighting for their survival, run to you, you are dead. Hence the importance or logistic and professionalism…

Indeed, there are reports of Haitians using corpses as road-blocks to loot the convoys all for themselves.

Desperation leads to irrational things.

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

From experience, be afraid of desperate people. I can’t judge what happened on the field but I had an experience when providing humanitarian relief was dangerous. Without my driver who just pushed me, a desperate crowd that wanted right now what I was bringing would have at least seriously injured me. And it was not a tragedy of that scale…

When a more than 1000 men and women, fighting for their survival, run to you, you are dead. Hence the importance or logistic and professionalism…

I agree. I don't envy the unarmed doctors having to face that down. At least the response has been rapid and apparently helpful, though.

[Devastatin Dave]

Apparently, the US annexed the Airport, they say it's "US Territory" now
Them yankees taking every opportunity to annex things

Go find yourself a better thread to insult my country.

[Brenus]

"I don't think they'd react that way over a team of doctors."
I think they can as a panic/hungry/angry/despaired mob will target any body for every thing.
No. I know they can. I know they did in various occasion....

I had few friends/former colleague killed in Humantarian Work. Don't think Humanitarian Workers are protected because they do good.
And I don't speak about rapes, team of nurses digging they own graves, drivers RPGed etc...

"The U.N. supervisors over-reacted." Were you there to estimate the situation?

[Devastatin Dave]

Go find yourself a better thread to insult my country.

Gawd, I hate Terminator movies!!!

[Beskar]

Interesting article

http://www.opendemocracy.net/daniel-...ocate-to-haiti

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

Interesting article

http://www.opendemocracy.net/daniel-...ocate-to-haiti

Haiti wouldn't benefit. The diplomats don't even pay their parking tickets. Not that Haiti has anyone to issue them.

[Beskar]

Haiti wouldn't benefit. The diplomats don't even pay their parking tickets. Not that Haiti has anyone to issue them.

Though argubly, the UN would pay for them (if they needed to be paid) so it would still benefit the Haiti people.

Though if my memory serves me right, isn't Haiti the place they elected Papa Doc?

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

Though argubly, the UN would pay for them (if they needed to be paid) so it would still benefit the Haiti people.

They haven't in New York.

[Brenus]

"They haven't in New York" They haven't in London!!! Parking tickets and congestion charges...

[Skullheadhq]

Some retards in Haiti thought it would be nice to loot and rob people that already have nothing.

[rory_20_uk]

Some retards in Haiti thought it would be nice to loot and rob people that already have nothing.

Hardly novel. residents on New Orleans were doing it on a far greater scale. There's a chance they were trying to, you know, get food to eat?

[Seamus Fermanagh]

"I don't think they'd react that way over a team of doctors."
I think they can as a panic/hungry/angry/despaired mob will target any body for every thing.
No. I know they can. I know they did in various occasion....

I had few friends/former colleague killed in Humantarian Work. Don't think Humanitarian Workers are protected because they do good.
And I don't speak about rapes, team of nurses digging they own graves, drivers RPGed etc...

"The U.N. supervisors over-reacted." Were you there to estimate the situation?

People, when desparate, will do some amazing things. I recall reading Cornelius Ryan's "A Bridge Too Far," wherein a US Army Sergeant, having made a promise to one of his comrades, held a doctor at gun point and forced him, under threat of death, to see to the needs of his comrade first -- irregardless of the doctor's other duties, patients, etc. The story had a happy ending because the head wound was not mortal as most had thought, but desparate people CAN be a threat to doctors -- or anyone -- if they feel the needs of their loved ones are threatened.

Did they OVER-estimate the threat potential here? Quite possibly. Is the security concern baseless? Not at all.

[Vladimir]

US accused of occupying Haiti: http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/ja...cupying-haiti/

I thought about posting a France-bashing post but then I read Louis'.

Oh, and look at the picture of the author. Scary...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...-flood-in.html

[Fragony]

"The death toll is now estimated at up to 200,000 lives. Around three million Haitians – a third of the country's population – have been affected by Tuesday's earthquake and two million require food assistance."

That is beyond any comprehension, and here I am cozy in my apartment and I don't think I even gave it any thought today until now.

[Lemur]

I know what you mean, Frag. It's very hard (impossible?) to wrap your head around that kind of tragedy.

Meanwhile, President 44 has a piece in Newsweek about Haiti, and the freaky thing is that he probably wrote it himself.

[rvg]

Danny Glover speaks: failure at Copenhagen to blame for Haiti tragedy, not geology -
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/ja...-danny-glover/

In that case I'll blame Baron Samedi.

[Beskar]

US accused of occupying Haiti: http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/ja...cupying-haiti/

I thought about posting a France-bashing post but then I read Louis'.

Oh, and look at the picture of the author. Scary...

Looks like your typical Right-Wing older female. I am sure Furunculus' wouldn't like you for making such remarks about his mother though.

[Furunculus]

Looks like your typical Right-Wing older female.

what does your typical Right-Wing older female look like?