I say put Honore in charge as the interim head-of-state, like MacArthur after WWII in Japan. USA Today:
WASHINGTON — The U.S. relief effort for Haiti started too slowly and cautiously, says a retired general who led the military relief effort on the Gulf Coast after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
“The next morning after the earthquake, as a military man of 37 years service, I assumed … there would be airplanes delivering aid, not troops, but aid,” said retired Lt. Gen. Russel Honore, who coordinated military operations after disaster struck the U.S. Gulf Coast in 2005. “What we saw instead was discussion about, ‘Well we’ve got to send an assessment team in to see what the needs are.’ And anytime I hear that, my head turns red.”
The problem, Honore told USA TODAY, is that the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development, instead of the military, take the lead in international disaster response.
“I was a little frustrated to hear that USAID was the lead agency,” he said. “I respect them, but they’re not a rapid deployment unit.”
USAID immediately dispatched an assessment team and search-and-rescue teams, but there has still not been widespread distribution of food or water, three days after the Haiti earthquake.
And talking about USAID, here’s Rachel Maddow praising USAID’s work, as well as Jon Stewart calling Maddow out for blaming Bush for USAID’s shortcomings. (Stewart dings Limbaugh and Robertson as well)
Hmmm. Who to believe? General Honore or Rachel Maddow?





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