Osler's Razor

Number 2.
 

Why did we leave out "Do nothing?"
 

Anon. 12:45-- because that is no longer an option; we have already begun to deliver food and medicine.
 

Also, Wyclef Jean, a native Haitian, has set up a charity called Yele to help out. Text "Yele" to 501501 to send a $5 donation. It's added to your phone bill, so you don't need to have a credit card ready.

Btw I found that on the Huffington Post, just so you don't think it's a scam.
 

I'm glad Anonymous' sense of morality is still in place.

The problem with (3) is whether we could do it without giving in to the temptation to meddle or sell out the Haitian people to permanent servitude under American companies that will take advantage of Haiti's convenient lack of regulation. So (2) is probably the more practical option.

(1) just makes you seem like a jerk.
 

Well, I think #3 was already happening, with investment by a lot of international organizations, not just the US.

I would say at least #2.
 

Although I have not been to Haiti I have 3 different friends with vastly different involvement in the country.

One is a former child/slave of Haiti. Sold by his parents at a very young age to a wealthier Haitian family to carry water and empty chamber pots, etc... He was moved, by this family, to the US and continued this life of servitude. He eventually broke away, served in the US Military and has since become a naturalized citizen. He runs a non-profit to recue Haitian children from this fate. Look up the term 'restavec'. He caught a flight to the Dominican yesterday so that he could get with his in country people to begin assisting restavec children whose 'masters' have been killed.

The second is a Presbyterian Minister who is involved with an orphanage on the outskirts of Port au Prince. Surely they will be taking in more orphans as a result of this tragedy.

The third is a pediatrician. He and a group of doctors head to a certain area of Haiti (not sure what town) 2 or 3 times of year to offer medical care. They focus on one small community and have tirelessly tried to teach them how to make clean drinking water with very simplistic methods that do not involve electricity. This group had a young man who was very interested in what they do and they brought him to the US and are paying for his college education at a small catholic college in FL. This young man is pursuing a degree in public health and wishes to return to Haiti and help his people.

Whether option 2 or 3 is the right path is a personal choice, but doing nothing is not an option.
 

As our dear leader would say, this is a teachable moment. If you personally want to help, send money to a respectable aid organization. Do not petition the US government to help, they only mess things up. Independent non-governmental aid orgs know how to help without looking for an "angle."

The teachable moment is to learn about why Haiti is so poor. The Dominican Republic is on the same island and it's a great country with tourism and exports. As members of a free society, it is our responsibility to educate ourselves.

I find Christine's story about child slavery astounding.
 

#3, since I heard we're great at nation-building.
 

Mitch - just google the word 'restavec' and you can read more. I met Mr. Cadet, the primary voice, through a dear friend who is a retired American Airlines flight attendant.
 

I think we will find that the help provided by private charities, churches, and individual citizens will ultimately be more helpful than anything the US government does. However, I think the US government should do whatever it can to help, because it is the right thing to do.

This quote made me laugh:

"Btw I found that on the Huffington Post, just so you don't think it's a scam."

And this quote made me laugh too:

"The problem with (3) is whether we could do it without giving in to the temptation to meddle or sell out the Haitian people to permanent servitude under American companies that will take advantage of Haiti's convenient lack of regulation."

Lane, isn't that horse dead enough yet?? Leave it alone man! Leave it alone!!
 

Agreed with all on #2, and agreed with Lane on the comment that RRL finds laughable. The problem is that no matter how much we beat at the horse, it keeps on getting fed, groomed, and bred to raise more horses by much more powerful political and economic forces.

And Christine -- I read Restavec, Cadet's book, in a class at Stanford. It was fantastic; thank him for writing it.
 

#3, or at least #2. These people are injured, scared and in pain. They have had no water and no medical care for three days. If we are willing to rebuild countries in the middle east, why not Haiti. Let us once think beyond the almighty dollar and politics, and consider the human factor.
P.S. "Do nothing" is simply shameful.
 

I agree that our aid agencies can and will do the work more effectively and over a longer period than the government can.

However, I think that our military can provide support in that effort with transport and/or creating a safe zone/beachhead staging type area. Agencies could then use the area, as set up quickly by the experts, to coordinate logistics. They would be protected from criminal behavior and have support when needed to control the inevitable mobs of people.

The military is, in my opinion, the best to handle moving people and materials in a short amount of time. As an added benefit, the troops get trained in those logistics for when the need arises to move men and material quickly in a war. So I guess my vote is in favor of a modified #2 where the area would be treated as a forward operating base.

If in the future, our country decides to provide a rebuild, the military staging area would be best suited to be the beginning point of the rebuild.
 

I would like to say the US and other major countries should initially go in with their 'big' earth moving equipment and their search and rescue teams and the initial aid to the country. They are all better equipped to handle this than the Haitian people. After things are past the 'shell' shocked state, then the foreign aid groups and the UN are better able to assist the population of Haiti.

Septimus - I will share your message with Mr. Cadet next time I see him. Fortunately for him, he delayed a trip earlier in the week or he would have been at one of the hotels that collapsed. He is delightful man.
 

NEWS FLASH: "our aid agencies" = USAID (U.S. Agency for International Development). Where USAID doesn't work directly, they are the primary source of aid money for INGOs, NGOs, etc. Point: our aid agencies are "the government".

NEWS FLASH II: the military...that's the government too.
 

Septimus, most of us understand or know that USAID and our military are indeed parts of our federal government. There's really no need to be rude about it.

That said, it seems that President Obama has already pledged our aid and support to the people of Haiti. See: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/15/world/americas/15haiti.html?hp.

I for one am happy that we are assisting Haiti, and judging from the damage done to their seaports and airports, we may well see our military assisting the rescue effort.
 

Septimus, maybe if you understand my "aid agency" comments to refer to private charities such as those associated with churches, then my post might make more sense to you. I don't think it's a news flash to anyone here as to how typically the US responds in such situations.

The discussion has become one of how to accomplish the 3 options set out by Osler's post.

USAID clearly works with our military to provide the logistics I speak of. I however meant that there should be a collaboration, more than there is now, between these private charities and the military/USAID to provide services to accomplish the goals set out in the OP.
 

Here's a quote from an article I just read:

"With the U.N. peacekeeping force in tatters, representatives of aid organizations say there does not appear to be anyone coordinating distribution of relief supplies at the airport in Port-au-Prince.

It is difficult because folks at the Port-au-Prince airport are trying to get up to speed to run logistics," said Save the Children spokeswoman Kate Conradt from Haiti.

Donations are coming in to the airport here, but some are coming without notice from very well-meaning groups," she said. "There is not yet a system to get it in."

Obviously it's chaos, but I feel like this could be better handled if the military treated it like taking a beachhead.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100114/ap_on_re_eu/haiti_earthquake_aid