factbat.com

Amid a disorganized and slow response of red-tape beleaguered emergency aid currently assisting Haitian victims, the United States is gearing up to send a mass effort of military personnel to the earthquake shattered region of Port au Prince and surrounding area.

According to Reuters AlertNet, More than 5,000 Marines and soldiers are on their way to the province, along with hospital ships and military units capable of producing their own fresh water.

Air Force Special forces are already on the ground along with advance and assessment rescue teams which were some of the first to arrive on scene.

It appears that more than 12,000 military and rescue personel will be deployed to the poor and ailing country by the end of next week.

However, there have been fewer than two hundred actual civilian rescue workers transported to the area.

It appears that in this day and age the world is being led to believe that the only viable human resource able to administer disaster relief is a military force.

Furthermore, in the United States, the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) is, since September 11, 2001, the main domestic organization currently provided the resources to respond to natural emergencies.

But why is FEMA now taking on roles the American Red Cross was trusted to handle for over a century? Quite possibly because the authority FEMA now enjoys is more in step with the policies of the new liberty corroding, gun grabbing, lethargic aid response which more parallels the latest administrations.

If the inept Hurricane Katrina response was meant to diminish confidence in domestic civilian response to disaster then the job was more of a success than citizens may realize.

One certainly must question why in a world of burgeoning technological advances and overnight international shipping there is once again a horse and carriage response to a natural disaster torn country.

There has been a very significant shift in response to disaster from civilian national and international organizations to more officially mandated entities which take marching orders from the government.

Is there no capable organization in Haiti which can properly respond to the crisis in that country? And if not, then why?

Even a 7.0 earthquake would not be enough to completely decimate what should be Haiti’s rescue response capabilities. Especially if they are afforded their own military force, which likely they are not in light of the occupation of that country for centuries.

Could the lack of local forces and established crisis response capabilities be a direct result of a nation which has been under a US military backed UN occupation for nearly six years?

Could it be that this occupation creates an environment which furthers the aims of outside interests rather than those most critical to the citizens who actually live there?

Why would a country in the Western Hemisphere not possess the funds to organize and train its own forces with the capabilities to handle whatever disaster or crisis may occur in their nation?

These are questions this author will shortly be answering.

Stay tuned...