President Obama understood the urgency. Announcing the relief effort aimed at the earthquake in Haiti he said yesterday that the first 36 hours were the most critical. As anyone watching the harrowing scenes unfolding street by street, block by block, building by building can see, people are tearing away at debris with their bare hands trying to reach others trapped under layers of concrete. And the thousands lucky enough to crawl out or otherwise escape often have severe internal injuries, invisible as they lie on the streets. Haiti is like one huge triage scene with nobody co-ordinating the medical priorities, knowing and seizing the opportunity to save lives according to need - or the search and rescue operations. The humanitarian work being done so far is improvised and being carried out by whomever has the means to do it.
So where are the Americans?
A few civilian units equipped with dogs and specialized equipment have reached the devastation. All day yesterday the Pentagon flew over the area “making assessments.” These overflights were coordinated with a handful of military units also making “assessments” on the ground, directed by an officer who luckily happened already to be in Haiti.
(Ok...one handful of Americans--special operations no less--did make an early impact.)
Meanwhile, this morning, one large Chinese transport plane landed at Port Au Prince with 100 specially trained people ready to go into action, and three French transports also landed. Another piece of luck-the main runway is usable, although the control tower has been destroyed and normal air traffic control is impossible until emergency equipment can replace the tower.
The Pentagon’s strategy, as outlined yesterday, made the point that until the scale of the disaster can be properly “assessed” it will be impossible to effectively assign the right forces with the right skills-all very sensible, if you are following a management by committee playbook but not if you are dealing with the imperatives of a huge natural disaster.
The clock is ticking.
Anybody watching CNN for half an hour can make an assessment. The result: Get there as fast as you can because the President had it right. The time to save lives is running out, fast. Every minute counts.
Sounding like the familiar Washington buck-passing game, a Pentagon spokesman said that the effort was being coordinated by USAID, which is part of the State Department-in other words, over to you, Hillary. The Secretary of State canceled her Asian trip. She understands. And her husband, President Clinton, has been making frequent appeals-his role is personal and knowledgeable. But they don’t control the boots and the airplanes.
Normally international relief efforts involve negotiating with the stricken state's government, military and social services heads. Haiti has virtually no functioning government and very few resources. So there were no political or diplomatic restraints to immediate action. In fact, what seems absent from the approach adopted by Pentagon planners is not how to provide command and control once their whole operation has emerged (I'm sure they have that well rehearsed), but an effective first response capacity. The Air Force's C17 heavy lifters are the only way to get the kind of cranes and lifting gear into place quickly that Haiti urgently needs if those still trapped but alive have any hope of being saved.
Never have we needed boots on the ground faster. The hospital ship and aircraft carrier steaming to Haiti won’t be there in time to really make a difference in this fast dwindling window of opportunity.
The Pentagon has already failed the President. And the people of Haiti.
Complete Haiti Coverage on Truth.Travel
The President designated USAID to coordinate the Haiti efforts, not the Pentagon. Your anti-Americanism and anti-military biases are coloring your vision. The military wasn't "just" assessing the situation; Southern Command had ships and planes enroute. They took charge of the air traffic control tower, landing equipment, supplies and personnel from the US and elsewhere. The US Coast Guard is in the harbor. Without prior assessment, relief efforts are be stymied because no one knows where to go or how to get there. Someone had to determine what routes are open or what is needed to open them. Someone has to identify skills and equipment needed in each location and how to get them there. Someone had to identify remaining resources - buildings, electricity, gas, potable water. Someone had to identify areas for setting up field hospitals or survivor camps and what areas to avoid. Logistical triage is comparable to medical triage. It has to take place first if you want to be successful. I am appalled by your comments and no longer care to be associated with Conde Nast even as a reader.