Haiti relief missions

a lil bit of mismanagement can be tolerated, afterall its a disaster and there isnt time for planning beforehand. we'll see if the rescue teams sort it out in a couple of days.

Hi Popeye,

I got the news from Yahoo News, I have been paying alot of attention since day one. I went back to Yahoo News but I can't find news drom January 14th up to yesterday. So I searched for other source, here is one from AFP,

FRENCH MEDICS URGE PRIORITY FOR HAITI AID PLANES
Received Sunday, 17 January 2010 02:39:00 GMT
PARIS, Jan 17, 2010 (AFP) - A French aid group struggling to get medicalrelief to earthquake victims in Haiti on Sunday urged US authorities to speed up the landing of supplies there after one of its aircraft was turned away.
Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders, MSF) "demands that cargo planes bringing emergency medical and surgical supplies be authorised withpriority to land in Port-au-Prince in order to treat the thousands of injured people awaiting vital surgery," it said in a statement issued in Paris.
An MSF plane carrying an inflatable field hospital was turned away fromlanding and diverted on Saturday night to the Dominican Republic and the material had to be delivered by road to the Haitian capital, which would take a whole day, it said.
Another MSF plane was due to arrive in Port-au-Prince on Sunday morning, it added, urging that this one be allowed to land there.
The United States has taken charge of operating Port-au-Prince airport and tensions have risen as poor coordination has delayed deliveries of desperately needed aid.
Another French plane carrying medical aid was turned away on Friday, prompting an angry reaction from French Secretary of State for CooperationAlain Joyandet.
That plane was eventually allowed to land, however, and the French president's office on Sunday played down talk of a dispute with Washingtonover coordinating aid.

I do have high expectation from USA, it is the superpower with huge resources. They should act fast, I expected dozens of planes should be in Haiti on January 13th, a day after the disaster, but they were one day late. I know Fairfax County Team was there, and the US Coast Guard was at the coast of Haiti on January 13th.

My disappointment comes from my high expectation, not from any anti-American feeling.

Thanks for you reports lcloo. Curious that none of the friction is being reported in any us media news sources. The violence perpertrated by the Haitians has been reported however.

Remember gents that an operation of this size takes planning. Nothing is instant in this situation. Forces cannot be mustered that quickly. Especially Naval forces.

Lets just see what happens.

bd popeye said:

Poor leadership..European translation..= We don't like how the US is running the show so we shall whine. Simple.

Like I said give the situation at least 48-72 more hours to see how things develop.

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I have to disagree with that translation. Even the Brazilians are protesting as well as others.

"The Red Cross and Médecins Sans Frontières complained about flights with medical staff and equipment which were redirected to the Dominican Republic. 'We are all going crazy,' said Nan Buzard, of the American Red Cross."

The first 72 hours are the most crucial. A few of these flights being diverted are coming from afar. Haiti is in America's backyard. It would be far easier for US planes to drop their cargo, pickup, and take off, or to at least park over at nearby Guantanamo. The US military can use its amphibious assets to drop off security forces and leave the airport as open as possible for everyone else. At the end of the day, I appreciate the US efforts but I wouldn't consider the complaints as whining.

Poor leadership..European translation..= We don't like how the US is running the show so we shall whine. Simple.

Like I said give the situation at least 48-72 more hours to see how things develop.

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I have to disagree with that translation. Even the Brazilians are protesting as well as others.

"The Red Cross and Médecins Sans Frontières complained about flights with medical staff and equipment which were redirected to the Dominican Republic. 'We are all going crazy,' said Nan Buzard, of the American Red Cross."

The first 72 hours are the most crucial. A few of these flights being diverted are coming from afar. Haiti is in America's backyard. It would be far easier for US planes to drop their cargo, pickup, and take off, or to at least park over at nearby Guantanamo. The USmilitary can use its amphibious assets to drop off security forces and leave the airport as open as possible for everyone else. At the end of the day, I appreciate the US efforts but I wouldn't consider the complaints as whining.

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I stand with Joshuatree on this one.
And I am not surprised at the reactions. I've been on MSNBC and CNN for the last 2 days and only one the Chinese newspaper did I hear about this.
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On TV, the workers continue to say there is a logistics problem.... But I don't exactly see why that could be. Supplies are piling up at the airport, there are a good load of UN Forces on the ground..... is there a helicopter shortage? Law and order? If it's law and order, I am not sure what the guns can't do. It's disarray but at least the water is doing what it is designed for.

The Seaport over there has collapsed. The external foundation on the water side/dockside came down and the containers are half dipped in water.

And in this case, what's the real value of the ships at sea, other than the Carl Vinson? The RO/ROs are nowhere to be found!

And what about other parts of the country?

yeah i also read some reports about complaints of the US organized rescue effort. it seems that a lot of it could be just the old bureaucratic practices, like for example the french and Canadians complained that the US soldiers at the airport only evacuated American citizens and refuses to let others through until the officials from those countries protested. of course the commander on the ground prolly felt that its better than letting everyone through and then risk being criticized at home for not making Americans a priority. i doubt it was simply an order from the whitehouse, obama and clinton arent that stupid.

we have to admit though, whatever these countries are doing its only for their own benefit, whether its for show, or regional stability or even "occupation of haiti" as the French officials accuse of the Americans, but whatever the intention is, if its helping the haitians at this point there is no reason for anyone to discredit them. the situation is pretty chaotic on the ground and from the perspective of the relief mission the last thing you need is the countries going at each other for whatever reason (there has been sporadic cases)

Thanks for your intelligent insight pla101prc.

And for all those responding to this thread.. Well done.

I just saw a report on ABC's "Good Morning America" about the bottleneck of relief supplies at the airport in Port-au-Prince. Seems the problem in delivering the goods is a lack of security. There are not enough US forces to provide security for delivery. But 2,000 more troops arrived last night and a total of 5,000 should be their by Friday. It was suggested that the bottleneck would start to break up this morning. I certainly hope so.

Hopefully the bottleneck at the airport will be further reduced with more transport being directed elsewhere. I'm glad the authorities are pressing unused sea assets into service.

joshuatree said:

Hopefully the bottleneck at the airport will be further reduced with more transport being directed elsewhere. I'm glad the authorities are pressing unused sea assets into service.

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Great news..Did you gents know that Italy is sending it's carrier Cavour to Haiti? Check it out!

Italy to send Cavour to Haiti for relief mission.

Excellent. I wish them well! This is their first deployment.

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(ANSA) - Rome, January 18 - Italy's newest aircraft carrier, the Cavour, will set sail Tuesday for Haiti to provide logistical and and operational support to relief efforts there, navy sources said on Monday.

Captain Gianluigi Reversi will command the mission which will see the participation of the military corps of engineers who will be bringing some 100 vehicles, including earth-moving and construction equipment. The mission is a joint one with Brazil which will provide doctors and nurses for the ship's fully-equipped onboard hospital which has various operating rooms and wards for intensive care and first aid.

The hospital staff will be picked up when the Cavour makes a technical stop in Brazil after crossing the Atlantic.

This will be the maiden mission for the Cavour which entered service in June of last year. The ship has a crew of 530, although it can host up to 1,200 people, and carries up to 20 helicopters and aircraft.

Aside from its state-of-the-art medical facilities, the Cavour, which can cruise at 30 knots, can generate enough electricity for 6,000 homes.

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The Chinese team managed to obtain the 8 bodies of their UN police peacekeeping team along with the head UN envoy there. At least 43 UN employees and diplomats died on the spot. The Chinese team were discussing matters with the head of the UN Haiti mission at the moment when the earthquake struck, and all died right on the same spot.