On Tuesday, there was a major earthquake in Haiti. They're estimating the death toll at anywhere from 50,000-200,000. They'll never have an accurate count because, out of necessity, the bodies are being buried in mass graves without ever being identified. A lot of citizens are doing this on their own without the help of their own government (most of the government buildings collapsed and many of the officials are believed dead) and without the help of the so-called rescuers.
To be fair, the vast majority of people who are there to help with the rescue are brave and caring and eager to go above and beyond the call of duty to do anything they can to help. The problem is, the people in charge (one of the problems they're having is that nobody seems to be in charge) are holding up rescue efforts. Tons of food, water and medical supplies have been delivered to the airport. It's almost five days since the first disaster struck and the supplies are still not getting out to the people who need them.
One of the doctors who was commenting for CNN said that now they're having a lot of "stupid deaths." People who were pulled out of the rubble are dying from injuries that are survivable if they were getting treatment. The supplies are there, the medical personnel are chomping at the bit trying to get into the city to help, and the people in charge are holding them back because of "security concerns."
Last night, Anderson Cooper had a follow up on one such case. A 13 year old girl had survived three days in a collapsed building with her leg trapped under concrete. Rescue workers spent hours digging her out. CNN filmed it all with a reporter on the scene. She needed surgery on her crushed leg, which could have been done in a field hospital. The tents, the equipment, the medical supplies and the doctors are all on the ground at the airport and have been there for days. But nothing's been set up. The girl died.
People who should survive are dying from dehydration and lack of medical care. And the "authorities" (Haitian, American and UN) are sitting around with their thumbs up their asses debating what to do. Just like FEMA in New Orleans.
And we have the same Bushian ineptness from our leaders here. Kathleen Sebelius, Obama's Secretary of Health and Human Services, has been on TV talking about how each body will be carefully photographed and DNA samples will be taken so they can all be identified and it's a slow process so families have to be patient. She was saying this even after all the news networks had shown bodies being scooped up from the street, tossed in the backs of trucks and dumped in mass graves. Heckuva job, Kathy.
General Honore, the guy who finally went into New Orleans and kicked ass to get things going, is providing commentary for CNN. On Tuesday, he started talking about what needs to be done in Port-au-Prince, how to organize, how set up medical facilities, how to distribute food, how to help. The first night I saw him, I thought Obama should call this guy and put him in charge. You could tell Honore was itching to get down there, and every day, you can see his frustration growing because the job's not getting done.
MSNBC - the ones who are supposed to be liberal - keep going on and on about security problems and "riots." The only "riots" any of the reporters have seen is when a truck drives up to a site with food and water and hungry, thirsty, desperate people rush forward trying to get some. That's not a riot - that's people trying to help themselves because no one else will help them.
The longer the assholes withhold supplies, the more desperate survivors get. The "security concerns" and "fears of rioting" are self-fulfilling prophecies.
I've barely wasted my time on Fox. It seems like every time I flip through the news channels, they're rerunning clips from Glenn Beck's interview with Sarah Palin before the earthquake.
CNN seems to be doing the best job covering the story. Yesterday one of their anchors, Don Lemon, who happens to be black, made a lot of sense. He pointed out that people are not "rioting" - they're trying to survive.
Last night on CNN, you could see Anderson Cooper's frustration - he was saying the same things I am but a little more eloquently. He and one of the reporters were talking about something that I've heard a couple of survivors say - the international search and rescue crews have focused most of their efforts trying to find people trapped under the collapsed UN headquarters and fancy hotels where the rich, white foreigners were staying instead of going into the neighborhoods to help the Haitians.
This is change we can believe in?
7 comments:
Yeah, most accounts of "attacks" against rescue workers or aid providers during Katrina were proved false, yet authorities halted efforts "for security", which only heightened tensions.
That and the people (because the were Black) were treated like criminal detainees and essentially put in concentration camps (Astrodome).
As far as International aid being direct at UN Headquarters and where foreigners were staying ... ahead of the general population ... I do have a bit a sympathy.
The UN had a large, ongoing contingent of International Aid Workers there before the quake, and these are colleagues coming to their rescue. The top two UN official died, along with many others.
As Americans (and likely the same for citizens of other countries), Government(s) have a duty to ensure the safety and act on the behalf of its citizens abroad, yes, prioritized before that of others, as "unfair" as that may be.
The Katrina response was simply inexcusable, given the advance notice that a big hurricane would be hitting the U.S. coast days in advance. Of course no warning for Haiti.
The response feels slow, and perhaps some could be quicker, but it has only been 4.5 days as of now, and most ship-borne aid is 1,000-2,000 miles away, 50-100 hours, and that's if the ship was sitting there provisioned and ready to go.
The real telling will come after a month or so, when the rescue becomes recovery and the camera crews leave.
Just the way it is.
All politicians are inefficient pigs. Sitting Bull could have told us that. He DID tell us that.
“The white man knows how to make everything, but he does not know how to distribute it”
A must read is Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein. USA is not giving them aid free, it is all in loans. USA is going in taking over, keep all their natural resources and will keep Haiti for themselves as a sweatshop. This whole facade of security reasons keeping them from getting the aid is just to have more people die and exert more control.
I can't remember if I saw it on Rachel Maddow or Anderson Cooper or somewhere else. There was an expert saying that most of the reason Port-au-Prince had a population explosion and a contributing factor to the poverty was because we forced them to buy food from us. It destroyed their agricultural economy and people moved to the city looking for jobs.
Remus, tonight Anderson Cooper (I'm starting to really like his show) did a report on a looting incident he observed today where the young men started getting violent with each other. But he was quick to emphasize that for all the talk of riots and looting, that was the only incident he's witnessed and he's been on the streets there since Thursday.
Ron, the only thing the politicians ARE efficient at is making money for themselves.
What usually happens when the IMF or foreign countries move in to "help" or "modernize" a subsistence agricultural economy in which the people get by (i.e. not starving or lacking shelter) is that they demand change to producing cash export crops (cocoa, coffee, sugar, vanilla).
But the cash is never enough to offset the acreage that was growing their FOOD.
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