Demand Real Aid For Haiti

Hundreds of tons of supplies are piling up on the tarmac at the Port-au-Prince airport, while the people of Haiti wait in growing desperation for deliveries of water, medicine, food. In the many neighborhoods cut off by blocked streets, people are suffering and dying. The supplies are needed NOW. Every hour is a matter of life and death.


The U.S. Military is refusing to use its big cargo helicopters to drop water, food and medicine until it can have troops on the ground to “control” the deliveries. The thousands of U.S. soldiers arriving in Haiti have orders to “provide security”. They have are being sent to Haiti to police the populace, not to give relief.


This emphasis on “security” and “control” is a second disaster-in-the-making. Yes, some aid is gradually being delivered. But many people will perish without every seeing any sign of help. It will come too little, too slow, and for many, too late.


The big helicopters should be used around the clock to lower food and water to the ground by cable, in neighborhood after neighborhood after neighborhood. We have to trust that Haitians on the ground will know how best to use the materials once they get them. Helicopter drops of medicines and medical supplies should be made where medical personnel are known to be working.


We call on President Obama to direct the military to immediately begin an all-out campaign of helicopter drops of water and food to the isolated earthquake-affected neighborhoods without waiting for formulation of a grand master plan and without waiting to first “provide security structures” on the ground.


We HAVE to trust that the people of Haiti will continue to work as a community, helping each other to get through this as best they can. The need for IMMEDIATE DELIVERY OF AID is paramount. To prioritize policing over delivering real aid means unnecessary suffering and death for thousands.


We call on Obama to order U.S military personnel in Haiti to go into the the streets, roll up their sleeves and WORK WITH everyday people to address the most urgent needs. The scale of destruction is so widespread. Nothing less than a truly humanitarian response is needed.