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17 January 2010

Biden and Haiti

According to this article from Der Speigel, FEMA and the US military are having some degree of difficulty getting supplies to Haiti. Not because they aren't ready, but because of an abject lack of coordination on the part of aid workers, US leadership, and international and multinational partners.

"Every second counts," according to one of the FEMA personnel sitting at Homestead AFB in Florida. The problem is that his C-17, fully loaded, has been grounded for two days, simply because there is nowhere in Haiti to land the plane. Apparently the situation in Haiti is compounded by the dozens of nations, aid organizations, and UN agencies that all want to arrive, but due to the lack of usable runways, all are being bogged down. The lack of logistical coordination is profound. According to the article, French teams are among the dozens of teams trying to get into Haiti, but no one is certain which priorities (food? medical supplies? drinking water?) are in any given convoy.

To make matters worse, the C-17 crew had to wait for an additional two hours for Joe Biden to show up to take a picture with the plane. Later on, Biden visited Little Haiti, a neighborhood in Miami, where he gave a speech. However, he ignored the Haitian American Professionals Coalition when they asked him if they need additional doctors and nurses (who, helpfully, speak French, understand the culture and landscape, and probably as capable of responding to this as effectively as any organization.) Biden pointed out that "our hearts ache with you.... [the relief effort] is like squeezing a bowling ball through a straw." Then he rejoined his motorcade.

I don't want to make too many political points here, except that 1. What would the reaction be if Cheney had said this? and 2. I thought Bill Clinton was the Special Envoy to Haiti, rather than the Special Envoy to Coakleyville. Someone in the US leadership should step up, and the press should hold their feet to the fire.


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