Author Topic: Anger at US builds at Port-au-Prince airport  (Read 14060 times)

roo_ster

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Anger at US builds at Port-au-Prince airport
« on: January 17, 2010, 06:00:19 PM »
Simple response:  we can leave, ya stinking ingrates.

Let them stew in their own misery. 

I am right weary of ingrates calling us rat astards oneminute andthenasking for help the next.



http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.ba6c91cdedb51ded113ef8daf2d1af0b.ec1&show_article=1

Anger built Saturday at Haiti's US-controlled main airport, where aid flights were still being turned away and poor coordination continued to hamper the relief effort four days on.

"Let's take over the runway," shouted one voice. "We need to send a message to (US President Barack) Obama," cried another.

Control remained in the hands of US forces, who face criticism for the continued disarray at the overwhelmed airfield.

Dozens of French citizens and dual Haitian-French nationals crowded the airport Saturday seeking to be evacuated after Tuesday's massive 7.0 earthquake, which leveled much of the capital Port-au-Prince.

But at the last minute, a plane due to take them to the French island of Guadeloupe was prevented from landing, leaving them to sleep on the tarmac, waiting for a way out.

"They're repatriating the Americans and not anyone else," said Charles Misteder, 50. "The American monopoly has to end. They are dominating us and not allowing us to return home."

The crowd accused American forces, who were handed control of the airport by Haitian authorities, of monopolizing the airfield's single runway to evacuate their own citizens.

The US embassy denied it was putting the evacuation of the approximately 40,000 to 45,000 American citizens in the country first.

Others waiting for a way out were taken aback by the chaotic scenes confronted them when they arrived at the Toussaint L'Ouverture airport.

"I haven't been able to tell my family that I'm alive. The coordination is a joke," said Wilfried Brevil, a 33-year-old housekeeper.

"I was at the Christopher Hotel," said Daniele Saada, referring to the headquarters of the UN peacekeeping force in Haiti, MINUSTAH.

"I was extremely shaken up. I was pulled out, the others weren't," added Saada, 65, a MINUSTAH employee.

"I decided to return to France. I have nothing and now I am stuck," she said, caught between fury at the chaos and sheer exhaustion.

The disorder even appeared to cause diplomatic ripples, with French Secretary of State for Cooperation Alain Joyandet telling reporters he had lodged a complaint with the United States over its handling of the Port-au-Prince airport.

"I have made an official protest to the Americans through the US embassy," he said at the Haitian airport after a French plane carrying a field hospital was turned away.

A spokesman for the French foreign ministry later denied France had registered protest, saying "Franco-US coordination in emergency aid for Haiti is being handled in the best way possible given the serious difficulties."

The US ambassador to Haiti defended American efforts at the small airport, which was up-and-running 24 hours after the massive quake, even though the air traffic control tower was damaged.

"We're working in coordination with the United Nations and the Haitians," said Ambassador Kenneth Merten, though he acknowledged some difficulties.

"Clearly it's necessary to prioritize the planes. It's clear that there's a problem."

Despite the chaos, a group of French citizens was eventually able to take off on Saturday, and the French plane carrying a field hospital landed safely around noon.

Still, with aid continuing to flood into the quake-stricken country, concern remains about the lack of coordination at the airport, and across devastated Port-au-Prince.

"The Haitians haven't been notified about the arrival of planes. And when they do land, there's no one to take charge and a large amount of goods are arriving without coordination," said Haitian government official Michel Chancy.

On Port-au-Prince's streets, the consequences of the coordination breakdown are clear, as traumatized and starving quake survivors approached passing foreigner and begged them for food.



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roo_ster

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Perd Hapley

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Re: Anger at US builds at Port-au-Prince airport
« Reply #1 on: January 17, 2010, 06:13:41 PM »
Quote
"They're repatriating the Americans and not anyone else," said Charles Misteder, 50. "The American monopoly has to end. They are dominating us and not allowing us to return home."

The crowd accused American forces, who were handed control of the airport by Haitian authorities, of monopolizing the airfield's single runway to evacuate their own citizens.

And? 

I could be wrong.  I didn't read the whole thing.  But I don't see what's wrong with this. 
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Declaration Day

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Re: Anger at US builds at Port-au-Prince airport
« Reply #2 on: January 17, 2010, 06:20:11 PM »
And? 

I could be wrong.  I didn't read the whole thing.  But I don't see what's wrong with this. 

^^^ I agree.  I suspect the vast majority of aid is coming from us.  Allowing us to evacuate our people first is a tiny concession, IMO.

longeyes

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Re: Anger at US builds at Port-au-Prince airport
« Reply #3 on: January 17, 2010, 06:24:40 PM »
Let France handle the whole of it.  Problem solved.
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Standing Wolf

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Re: Anger at US builds at Port-au-Prince airport
« Reply #4 on: January 17, 2010, 06:34:06 PM »
Quote
Let France handle the whole of it.  Problem solved.

Well, maybe France and Venezuela.
No tyrant should ever be allowed to die of natural causes.

Zardozimo Oprah Bannedalas

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Re: Anger at US builds at Port-au-Prince airport
« Reply #5 on: January 17, 2010, 06:54:23 PM »
And? 

I could be wrong.  I didn't read the whole thing.  But I don't see what's wrong with this. 
Same here. It makes perfect sense that the US government wants to evacuate the US citizens first.
It also makes perfect sense that the Haitian airport is screwed up, just like the rest of the country.
Quote
"Let's take over the runway," shouted one voice. "We need to send a message to (US President Barack) Obama," cried another.
This is why you can't have nice things. Because you go to 3/4 retard mode the minute there's any problem.
Full retard mode would be storming the airport.

Evacuations are always chaos. Third-world countries may intensify this effect.

lupinus

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Re: Anger at US builds at Port-au-Prince airport
« Reply #6 on: January 17, 2010, 07:02:17 PM »
Quote
the airfield's single runway
Massive amounts of tonnage need to move in and out of there, and there's one runway? This surprises people that there is chaos, backups, and general delay?

Hell go to any major airport in the US and flights get delayed if a bird poops to close to the runway, let alone a freaking earthquake.
That is all. *expletive deleted*ck you all, eat *expletive deleted*it, and die in a fire. I have considered writing here a long parting section dedicated to each poster, but I have decided, at length, against it. *expletive deleted*ck you all and Hail Satan.

cassandra and sara's daddy

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Re: Anger at US builds at Port-au-Prince airport
« Reply #7 on: January 17, 2010, 07:04:29 PM »
and in haiti since folks are 1/2 starving to start with on a good day things escalate quite quickly.
It is much more powerful to seek Truth for one's self.  Seeing and hearing that others seem to have found it can be a motivation.  With me, I was drawn because of much error and bad judgment on my part. Confronting one's own errors and bad judgment is a very life altering situation.  Confronting the errors and bad judgment of others is usually hypocrisy.


by someone older and wiser than I

Mike

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Re: Anger at US builds at Port-au-Prince airport
« Reply #8 on: January 17, 2010, 07:15:19 PM »
These people don't seem to realize that you can't have planes landing unless you have the gas to refuel them so that they can leave. Otherwise your just going to have a big parking lot of planes that can't go anywhere because they don't have enough gas to get back to where they came from! :O This is why you limit who comes and goes! ;/

P5 Guy

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Re: Anger at US builds at Port-au-Prince airport
« Reply #9 on: January 17, 2010, 07:31:26 PM »
I've always wondered what would happen if the USA didn't play "The World's Fire, Rescue, & Police"?
Imagine a world where NATO had to keep peace with Canada, France and Italy. Imagine a world where natural disasters and rescue was done by the UAE, Egypt, and Peru. Maybe throw Communist China and North Korea in too.
Those entitled to a speedy and efficient response to their problems would really have a cause for concern.

Declaration Day

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Re: Anger at US builds at Port-au-Prince airport
« Reply #10 on: January 17, 2010, 07:48:38 PM »
These people don't seem to realize that you can't have planes landing unless you have the gas to refuel them so that they can leave.
I've read that some planes don't have enough fuel to return home because they were forced to circle the airport for a couple of hours before being able to land!

Waitone

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Re: Anger at US builds at Port-au-Prince airport
« Reply #11 on: January 17, 2010, 08:48:45 PM »
Quote
Still, with aid continuing to flood into the quake-stricken country, concern remains about the lack of coordination at the airport, and across devastated Port-au-Prince.

"The Haitians haven't been notified about the arrival of planes. And when they do land, there's no one to take charge and a large amount of goods are arriving without coordination," said Haitian government official Michel Chancy.
And this is why The Logistics Game should be played only by cold, stink-eyed professionals.  I can't think of a better way of turning an unmitigated disaster into a charlie foxtrot than to let amateurs manage by emotion.
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Bigjake

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Re: Anger at US builds at Port-au-Prince airport
« Reply #12 on: January 17, 2010, 09:10:00 PM »
While it's an awful thing, Screw these people.  It's not our job or obligation to pull their fat out of the fire.  

Goes double if they're ungrateful shitheads.  Dig your own country out of the ruble, if you please.


BridgeRunner

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Re: Anger at US builds at Port-au-Prince airport
« Reply #14 on: January 17, 2010, 10:11:16 PM »
Yes, I think a great response would be to get pissed at the Haitians.  After all, whenever any group of people is facing the greatest tragedy they have ever or likely will ever be called upon to face, together with everyone they know, and desperately need to make efficient use of very limited resources, they are obviously <insert perjorative here> for worrying about ensuring that the resource is used appropriately. 

People, when faced with massive tragedy, tend to get angry.  It's partly a survival mechansim.  Keeps us from sitting down and weeping in despair until even more people are dead.  If someone has made a commitment to help, then they need to help.  Worries about blame and anger, however misplaced, can wait. 

 

Bigjake

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Re: Anger at US builds at Port-au-Prince airport
« Reply #15 on: January 17, 2010, 10:40:45 PM »
I'm not seeing where it's our job to swoop in and expend a pile of money to bail out some 3rd world hole...  Yeah, we'll help save them from the current catastrophe, and in 6 months, they'll be right back to the same crappy squalor they started with.  To hell with that.  We'll spend more effort helping these people than we did digging out the midwest last year during that bad ice storm.  Something isn't right here. 

I know it's callous, but I just don't see the point.  Let their neighbors and PRIVATE charitable orgs lead the way, not the US Military/Gov/taxpayers.

In  6 months, they'll still hate us for not doing "enough" .

Hawkmoon

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Re: Anger at US builds at Port-au-Prince airport
« Reply #16 on: January 17, 2010, 10:50:34 PM »
This seems to be another instance of "What we have here is a failure to communicate."

I suspect planes are taking off from all sorts of places, full of aid supplies for Haiti. And I doubt the folks running the airfield have any idea how many of these planes there are or where they are coming from or what they are carrying until the pilot radios for clearance to land. What they need is a central clearinghouse to schedule the arrivals so they can take place in some semblance of an organized fashion.

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griz

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Re: Anger at US builds at Port-au-Prince airport
« Reply #17 on: January 17, 2010, 11:25:20 PM »
It hasn't been a year yet so it was probably Bush's fault.
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Matthew Carberry

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Re: Anger at US builds at Port-au-Prince airport
« Reply #18 on: January 18, 2010, 12:11:02 AM »
Well, the current administration did inherit the port and airport that existed on Bush's watch...

I tend to agree that it's a case of everyone wanting to help and yet not first clearing the logistical organization through the only people on scene qualified to do so, the US military.  So, since your charitable impulse is turned away you blame them instead of yourself for not planning ahead.
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lupinus

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Re: Anger at US builds at Port-au-Prince airport
« Reply #19 on: January 18, 2010, 05:42:04 AM »
This seems to be another instance of "What we have here is a failure to communicate."

I suspect planes are taking off from all sorts of places, full of aid supplies for Haiti. And I doubt the folks running the airfield have any idea how many of these planes there are or where they are coming from or what they are carrying until the pilot radios for clearance to land. What they need is a central clearinghouse to schedule the arrivals so they can take place in some semblance of an organized fashion.

NAH!
Personally I'd divert all planes first to major Florida airports capable of handling the traffic. Then once you know whats there you can schedule them to take off from Miami, Orlando, Tampa, wherever, and land in an orderly and scheduled fashion. More important supplies get takeoff/land priority. Every plane that comes in and is capable of carrying people out should be required to take a load back to Florida where they can be forwarded wherever home is.
That is all. *expletive deleted*ck you all, eat *expletive deleted*it, and die in a fire. I have considered writing here a long parting section dedicated to each poster, but I have decided, at length, against it. *expletive deleted*ck you all and Hail Satan.

roo_ster

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Re: Anger at US builds at Port-au-Prince airport
« Reply #20 on: January 18, 2010, 07:39:40 AM »
Quote from: BigJake
We'll spend more effort helping these people than we did digging out the midwest last year during that bad ice storm.  Something isn't right here.

In  6 months, they'll still hate us for not doing "enough" .

All too true.
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roo_ster

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Laurent du Var

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Re: Anger at US builds at Port-au-Prince airport
« Reply #21 on: January 18, 2010, 07:40:53 AM »
if you look at Google earth you can see that the Toussaints airport   is in the middle of
the mostly destroyed capital Port au Prince and has one (!) runway, in the age of world wide communication it is
really silly to send planes off without knowing wether they can land or not. If the US as the responsable power
to take care of the landing slots can't give you permission to land - well don't go there.  
Seems to me that the only acceptable approach to a natural catastrophy are straight logistics :
A: get the foreigners out
B: recognize Haiti as an idependent country with her own gouvernment which is reponsable for the safety of its subjects  
C: designate one (!) organisation to preside the helping effords of all foreign countries (UN, red cross...) which has  
    to work with the local gouvernment.  
Only then would I give some money. the red cross reported two years after the tsunami that it still had 85 % of the
donated money on it's bank accounts because they couldn't figure out whom to give it to. Like anyone should trust the Haitian
gouvernment to spend the received donations for the help of the affected. It's a lose/lose situation. And while I would like
to help I wouldn't know how and I don't see why you should send Marines into harms way because part of  those 1,5 million
people affected by the earthquake are already starting to loot, rob, steal and killing each other....    
Vada a bordo, Cazzo!

vaskidmark

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Re: Anger at US builds at Port-au-Prince airport
« Reply #22 on: January 18, 2010, 07:54:57 AM »
Personally I'd divert all planes first to major Florida non-USA airports capable of handling the traffic. Then once you know whats there you can schedule them to take off from Miami, Orlando, Tampa, wherever, and land in an orderly and scheduled fashion. More important supplies get takeoff/land priority. Every plane that comes in and is capable of carrying people out should be required to take a load back to Florida whatever foreign airport they originated from where they can be forwarded wherever home is.

Fixed it for you.

I do not want additional 3rd-world folks showing up on US soil where they might get loose and settle.  I do not want additional foreign nationals on US soil where they might get loose and settle.

As has been mentioned before, let some of the other countries of the world step up and participate in a meaningful measure.  I hear Cuba is rather nice this time of year and that the Hatians would not notice much diffeence if they were offloaded there.  Raul could even charge ramp fees.

stay safe.

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slugcatcher

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Re: Anger at US builds at Port-au-Prince airport
« Reply #23 on: January 18, 2010, 08:17:10 AM »
In  6 months, they'll still hate us for not doing "enough" .

I give it less than 6 weeks.

BryanP

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Re: Anger at US builds at Port-au-Prince airport
« Reply #24 on: January 18, 2010, 08:30:53 AM »
Worries about blame and anger, however misplaced, can wait. 

Aw come on Bridgewalker.  You're spoiling a perfectly good game of "Those damn ungrateful furrin bastards." 

(Never mind that you're right.)
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