The US Response To Haiti's Catastrophe

[babylonsister]

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2010_01/021915.php

THE U.S. RESPONSE TO HAITI'S CATASTROPHE.... The Obama administration is preparing a "massive military response" to the devastation in Haiti, including "ships, helicopters, transport planes and a 2,000-member Marine unit" that are either en route to Haiti or will be soon. Gen. Douglas Fraser, head of U.S. Southern Command, added that "one of the U.S. Navy's large amphibious ships will likely head to Haiti with a Marine expeditionary unit aboard."

Regrettably, Newsweek's Howard Fineman wants to draw parallels between President Obama's response to Haiti and George W. Bush's response to Hurricane Katrina. "(T)he Obama administration's competence and compassion will be tested in a similar racial context -- and with a much worse infrastructure," Fineman wrote yesterday.

As John Cole noted, the comparison is poor. We could see Hurricane Katrina headed towards Louisiana long before it hit land; the earthquake in Haiti was unpredictable. Louisiana is part of the United States; Haiti is a foreign country.

Nevertheless, if Fineman and the media establishment have decided that the Haitian crisis is the latest political test for the White House, Michael Scherer reports on the intensity of the president's response.

A White House aide tells me that President Obama issued a clear order Tuesday night, just before 6 p.m., when his national security aide Denis McDonough told him there had been an earthquake in Haiti: He told McDonough that he wanted an aggressive and highly coordinated response.

Aggressive it has been. He was briefed twice on Tuesday night, and briefed again by four different agencies and individuals before 10 a.m. Wednesday. He cancelled a planned speech on clean energy jobs, along with a side trip to Maryland, and spent the afternoon working the phones, talking to the U.S. ambassador to Haiti, to Secretary of State, to the USAID administrator and the leaders of Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Chile and the United Nations. The White House website has been turned into a fundraising hub for the Red Cross, and the White House has emailed its list with an appeal to give money.

The full horror of the catastrophe is not yet clear, and it could be weeks before we truly know how effective the U.S. government response has been. But there is little doubt that Obama is seizing the moment to demonstrate, for the second time in the New Year, that he can perform as a crisis president.

That probably won't stop the usual suspects from complaining -- about what, I don't know -- but like the post-Christmas whining, it almost certainly won't be substantive or policy oriented.

—Steve Benen

[pinto]

1. Benen makes some good points here.

:kick:

[tekisui]

2. His response has been perfect.

[Clio the Leo]

3. Hadn't thought of the "we should have been more prepared for Katrina..."

.... aspect of it (because, unlike earthquakes, we can see hurricanes on the radar.)

good point

[The Backlash Cometh]

4. Have we managed to get supplies on the island yet?

Or are they being held back for the photo opportunity?

[Jennicut]

5. The issue is not getting supplies on the island. The issue is getting them around the island.

The roads are blocked, heavy equipment is needed to clear them out and to get people out from under the rubble. Many planes have already landed with supplies so it is not a photo op. Haiti has very little if any heavy equipment and that is where the US military is needed.

[babylonsister]

6. That's disgusting. You sound like Limbaugh. nt

[The Backlash Cometh]

10. Oh, my God, bablyonsister.

I was making a direct reference to Bush's intentions with Katrina versus the actual mobilization which are occurring today. It's like night and day.

[babylonsister]

20. You certainly weren't clear, but

I beleve you. Thanks for clarifying.

[The Backlash Cometh]

22. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to do so.

This is just a horrible day for everyone and I'm sorry I added to it by not wording my statement better.

[FrenchieCat]

7. You are kidding, right?

[The Backlash Cometh]

11. See reference to babylon sister.

You would have had to follow the Katrina developments each hour and every day to understand what I was referring to.

[FrenchieCat]

17. Ok....I understand now.

[The Backlash Cometh]

18. Thank you.

[FrenchieCat]

19. Everyone is a bit on pins and needles, it seems......

probably because there are a few here who are politicizing this situation to some degree,
and I think that many DUers just don't want to hear this at this time....

Unfortunately, your post could have been taken in various ways,
which accounts for the responses that you've gotten.
It's good to understand that you were
making a compare and contrast statement,
even if done somewhat inartfully,
as opposed to anything else.

[The Backlash Cometh]

21. Considering that so many missed the compare/contrast

I would have to agree with you. My apologies to all for not being more clear.

[Cha]

8. Shut up. You don't know wtf you're talking about.

[The Backlash Cometh]

13. You apparently don't either.

It's obvious that there's mobilization going on now, that didn't exist during the Katrina incident. How could you have missed that?

[Inuca]

9. Isn't it lovely

to realize that WE can be as nasty and stupid as THEY are. The worst kind of bipartisanship.

[The Backlash Cometh]

15. Really?

You made the wrong conclusion about my post. Considering that Bush is being dragged into this, I thought that how he handled Katrina was on everyone's mind. Apparently not.

[Inuca]

24. Bush is being dragged into this because

1. he WAS the previous president, much as we may want to forget it
2. there is a Clinton/Bush succesful tardition in similar situations and Bush Sr. probably cannot (or does not want to) make it any more.

And what all this has to do with your comment... I do not know.

[The Backlash Cometh]

27. The Bush thing has everything to do with it.

I remember the days after Katrina. How we waited to get a response from Washington. It took days to wake Bush up. And when he finally woke up, it became a photo op. The supplies were held back to coordinate an event that made it look like he was coming down to lead the rescue.

Very much like he's doing now. He is an opportunist. I assure you there will be a photo of him rolling up his sleeves to get in and help out, but I doubt he'll stick around the way that Jimmy Carter would.

I don't see how a man who was insincere when he was president, is going to make much a difference now. Let's just say that at the end of the day, I doubt he'll have dirt under his fingernails.

[Kdillard]

12. Wow. I hope you are just having a bad day. There are no photo ops to

be had just the International community coming together to help people under difficult circumstances.

[The Backlash Cometh]

16. For crying out loud.

Bush WAS THE PHOTO OPS KING I was referring to.

People, really.

[hileeopnyn8d]

23. Lucky for you

I always read the next several posts before commenting. Sorry you're getting so much flack, I do hope that people will see that you clarified your remark.

We're all a bit touchy these days.

[NatBurner]

26. ditto

[The Backlash Cometh]

28. I can understand.

It may sound masochistic, but I'm reassured in all of your responses. If I thought someone had posted something claiming that Obama was not doing enough, I would have become defensive too.

[grantcart]

25. well if it makes you feel any better your ambigous reply

and all of your clarifications helped keep the thread kicked lol

[The Backlash Cometh]

29. It's all good.

It's a good article.

[Phx_Dem]

31. We had U.S. ships/aircraft on that island within 24 hours. Dumbass.

[The Backlash Cometh]

32. Erm.

All that was covered on the news. I thought all this was such a given, the fact that our country was being so proactive trying to help Haiti, that nobody would miss the fact that I was making a contrast between Obama's response, and Bush's. Apparently, I was wrong. As someone said, everyone is a bit on edge today. I realize that and have apologized for not being clearer in my post.

[impik]

14. This president is so above all the crap, it's actually quite depressing

It would be easier not to know how the American people are wasting this golden opportunity of actually having a super-brilliant man in the WH.

[Phx_Dem]

30. Allow me to finish that sentence,

The U.S. response to Haiti catastrophe "was swift and well-coordinated. It is a prime example of how catastrophe's should be handled."

Take note Republicans.