PHOTOS, PAGE 1

       Editor and prime reporter is Doug Terry, a veteran television and radio reporter in   Washington, DC, (details below)

Haiti was a place of heartbreak and lasting sadness long before the earthquake came. Now, it is teaching us all lessons in how poorly the world is set-up to deal with true emergencies.

After having personally assisted with disaster relief on numerous occasions and watched the world respond to other disasters over the years, many questions come to mind. I’ve always wondered about the “disaster industry” and why the world reaction, time and time again, looks like everyone is really surprised that another horrid disaster has come along.

Now, I am learning why. We are also seeing why the United Nations and its “peace keeping” troops are almost universally hated around the world. And, why local police in Haiti are still, despite adttempts at reform, a bunch of thugs. And why the NGOs, all doing great service, working hard and taking great risks, can’t get the job done, at least not alone.

It will take some time and study to look at the Haiti rescue effort dispassionately and  understand what has gone right and what has gone wrong. Some things, however, leap off the page and demand our attention:

1. Why are there only four field hospitals set up a week after the quake in Port au Prince? Why in the world would the government of Haiti tell the United States they didn’t want another field hospital and why would we listen to them?

2. Why has no one, myself included, been able to create an “air bridge” of large  helicopters to bring goods and personnel in through the Dominican Republic?

3. Why are the available doctors in PauP still without the necessary tools? Why are they still doing amputations with hack saws and other equipment bought in hardware stores?

4. Why are the Port au Prince police being allowed to shoot to kill at “looters”,many of whom are only taking what they need to survive? Why doesn’t the United States stop them?

5. Why were the United Nations “peace keepers” allowed to fire on people with rubber bullets and why don’t we stop them from ever doing that again except in dire emergencies?

6. Why aren’t we taking large numbers of Haitians out of the country, right now, to safety in the US or in other nations?

7. Why did former president Bill Clinton fly down to Haiti for a photo op unloading food and water rather than go down there and take over leadership in a situation which is in dire need of it? Did Clinton do anything other than pose for photos? (LATE DEVELOPMENT,   (2.3.10): U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon asked former U.S. President Bill Clinton to expand his role as special envoy for Haiti by taking a stronger role in coordinating relief and reconstruction efforts.

8. Why does it take so long for the military to adjust its mission to the conditions and how is anyone supposed to communicate with the military other than sending tweets to their twitter pages? (lame)

9. Why don’t we have an immediate, on the ground communications package ready to do for emergencies here and abroad that would, 1. allow the government and NGOs to exchange information. 2. Spread detailed news about where help is most needed. 3. Serve as a clearing house of information for everyone involved. 4. Allow people on the ground, in one way or another, to talk to each other?

I think I know some of the answers to these questions or at least part of the answers, but for the moment, I think the questions are enough to consider.

Doug Terry, 1.21..10 10:32 PM (EDT)

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