Getting Aid to Haiti

Off Topic Politics and World Issues
#21

If any of you were in the same situation and under the same circumstances as these Haitians, you would act the exact same way. Do not pretend any differently. If the people of Aspen, Colorado were cut off from food and water, eventually there would be riots and uprisings, just the same as anywhere else.

I can understand, to some extent, the idea of wanting to help your neighbour first, but try and think about the suffering the average Haitian has gone through in their life. A good number of people in the country have been reduced to EATING DIRT to survive ( Dirt Poor Haitians Eat Mud Cookies To Survive | HuffPost The World Post ).

I know we’re in the midst of a supposed economic catastrophe here, but your average “Joe Six-Pack” who got laid off from Ford in Flint, Michigan is doing FAR better than the majority of the world’s population. Far, far better. He’ll never die of starvation or get hacked to bits by a machete, no matter how bad things get.

If you’re wealthy enough to be able to afford a computer to log-in to this site, you’re doing extremely well in comparison to the rest of the planet. Stop bitching about Haiti already “getting your tax dollars” and dig deep.

#22

[quote]spyoptic wrote:

[quote]SkyzykS wrote:

[quote]spyoptic wrote:

[quote]Vegita wrote:

I don’t know much about politics, but if Haiti served more national interests I’m sure help wouldve come much quicker… bottom line, if it doesnt help further American ends or help the American people I very much doubt our leaders will have the incentive to help.

[/quote]

You don’t know much about logistics either.

I’m not trying to dick on you, but how fast do you think supplies and equipment of such a wide variety can be located, transported to a staging area, organized and loaded on to cargo plains and taken to another country?

That shit doesn’t just magically appear at an airport ready to ship, then appear there ready to be used and distributed at the snap of a finger.
[/quote]

Thats what I’m saying, America won’t help unless it furthers its own ends… and I’d think they’d use boats and not planes to go to Haiti since it’s so close to Florida… who’s the Logistics master now Skyz!!![/quote]

I dunno. I was thinking air drop since their airport was destroyed, which is done from cargo planes, which are faster at traveling through the air than boats are through water. I guess they could use boats or ships for that matter. They just need to mobilize the necessary battle groups out of where ever in the world they may be at this time. Or the red cross could just use privately owned commercial shipping vessels. They aren’t very busy right now. They can just drop any contracts they have and do it just because.

I was also alluding to but not explicit about the time factor of gathering all of the necessary supplies, so Ill be explicit-

That shit takes time. As hard as people may work to expedite the process, it is a huge undertaking and will take time, regardless of national interests. I’d be willing to bet that there were people in the U.S. working toward this the moment the seismographs went haywire.

Also, I would not consider it outside of the realm of national interests to participate in a humanitarian aide effort. If the U.S. didn’t do something, we would catch shit for it from every country in the world.

We’re the land-o-plenty. It’s expected of us.

#23

[quote]JEATON wrote:

[quote]spyoptic wrote:

[quote]SkyzykS wrote:

[quote]spyoptic wrote:

[quote]Vegita wrote:

I don’t know much about politics, but if Haiti served more national interests I’m sure help wouldve come much quicker… bottom line, if it doesnt help further American ends or help the American people I very much doubt our leaders will have the incentive to help.

[/quote]

You don’t know much about logistics either.

I’m not trying to dick on you, but how fast do you think supplies and equipment of such a wide variety can be located, transported to a staging area, organized and loaded on to cargo plains and taken to another country?

That shit doesn’t just magically appear at an airport ready to ship, then appear there ready to be used and distributed at the snap of a finger.
[/quote]

Thats what I’m saying, America won’t help unless it furthers its own ends… and I’d think they’d use boats and not planes to go to Haiti since it’s so close to Florida… who’s the Logistics master now Skyz!!![/quote]

Soooo…
Then the supplies can be tied up at port instead of tied up on a tarmac? The problem is not in getting the supplies to the island. The problem is one of distribution once they are there. Infrastructure is destroyed. Roads, bridges and highways smashed.
Masses of people in pain and fear. Chaotic mobs. A hungry man has a hard time standing patiently in line. These are some of the problems.
[/quote]

good points. We’d need trucks. Very large Tonka Trucks.

#24

[quote]PimpBot5000 wrote:
If the people of Aspen, Colorado were cut off from food and water, eventually there would be riots and uprisings, just the same as anywhere else.

[/quote]

I’d give it three days before things start to get crazy.

#25

We should let the free market fix Haiti

#26

Haiti has no infrastructure to move supplies. The airport is a relic and the port can’t handle the volumes needed to relieve the suffering. There will never be enough at the moment of crisis.

The US is air dropping supplies directly to the people. That’s a good move. An aircraft carrier and an amphibious assault ship will be on station. That will provide a lot of support for helicopters and emergency medical care. The US is also running the airport and prioritizing in and out flights, also a good thing and a real force multiplier. The relief needs to put in place in steps. If the UN could be trusted that would be great but they are thieving whores. The US and Canada are probably going to handle most of the issues due to proximity but most countries will lend a hand in some way. I saw that tiny Jamaica is sending medical teams over. They have what 1.7 million residents or something.

The Haitians will need a lot of public health relief going forward and the EU and US and Canada can handle that. Ultimately Haiti needs to deal with the corruption by themselves. The opportunity to do that is now while the Western nations are lending a hand and can be supportive. If I was in charge I’d never put down something with force, however a show of force is something different and the mere presence of soldiers can keep the peace and keep everyone working and helping the needy.

#27

It looked like from the pictures that alot of the government buildings collasped. Does that mean that all the corrupt officials are dead?

#28

Sure, cause they work round the clock!

Sorry, but corruption infests a country from within.
Even when all of them would be be squashed by debris, chances are, the next generation of officials will learn rather quickly that everyone expects them to work only when convinced “properly”.