Thread: Italy's Disaster Chief Blasts 'Pathetic' U.S. Aid Work

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,583829,00.html

Italy's Disaster Chief Blasts 'Pathetic' U.S. Aid Work in Haiti
Monday , January 25, 2010

Italy's top disaster official blasted the U.S.-led relief effort in Haiti as a "pathetic" failure that is turning a national tragedy into a "vanity show for the television cameras."

Guido Bertolaso, the head of Italy's Civil Protection Agency, told Italian television on Sunday that the U.S. military "tends to confuse military intervention with emergency intervention," and that despite the presence of 13,000 U.S. troops there, "no one is giving orders."

He said there is a danger that aid will be lost by the "inefficient" operation.

Bertolaso threw darts at targets ranging from former President Bill Clinton to the United Nations, which he faulted for throwing aid packages at the island and hoping for the best.

"They thought they could bring something to eat and drink and the problem would be resolved," he told a television interviewer.

Bertolaso called for the appointment of a civilian international humanitarian coordinator.

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini quickly distanced the government in Rome from Bertolaso's comments and said the Cabinet-level official was not speaking in an official capacity when he lit into the U.S.

"We have lamented from the first day that there has been a lack of adequate coordination," Frattini told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. "But this doesn't mean that Italy has any intention of criticizing the U.S. efforts."

Bertolaso is well respected in Italy for coordinating relief efforts after the 2009 earthquake in L'Aquila, which killed over 300 people. He showed President Obama around the area in central Italy when he visited for the G-8 summit in July.

The U.S. took over the only working airport in Haiti after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck on Jan. 12, killing at least 150,000 and leaving millions homeless. Dispatching 13,000 troops to the island, the U.S. has coordinated an international relief effort topping $1 billion in donations.

For its part, the U.S. has already sent nearly $184 million in aid to Haiti since the quake struck, according to the latest U.N. estimates. Italy has donated over $9 million, and like the U.S. has sent in recovery teams to help manage the living and recover the dead.

A spokeswoman for USAID, the government organization heading up relief efforts there, directed calls to the State Department, which wouldn't address Bertolaso's comments but defended U.S. work in Haiti.

"I think we have had major successes. I don't think we'll ever be happy with what has been done in a crisis of this scale," said Charles Luoma-Overstreet, spokesman for Western Hemisphere affairs at the State Department.

"The airport at Haiti is an airport that handled some 13 flights daily previously, and we're pushing it to the very limit now trying to get as many flights in and as much supplies as possible," he said, noting logistical challenges at every step, including a taxed and damaged port that made shipments difficult to bring to shore.

Bertolaso also struck out at aid groups sending millions in relief and hundreds of volunteers to help the struggling island. He said the forces helping Haiti were often more focused on public relations than providing assistance.

"Once they've arrived on the scene of a disaster, organizations too often think about putting up a big poster with their symbol on it, to look good in front of cameras, rather than getting to work to bring aid to those who need it," he said.

Bertolaso accused those aid groups of "putting on a vanity show for the television cameras instead of rolling up their sleeves," singling out Bill Clinton, the U.S. Special envoy to Haiti, for a special thrashing.

Clinton made a show of helping with water supplies during his time in Haiti, Bertolaso said, "but went back after a day."

Yet despite the horrific conditions on the ground — exacerbated by downed communications and ruined roads — relief groups say it's remarkable that aid is reaching people who desperately need it.

"Given the extreme logistical challenges in Haiti and the scale of the devastation, the fact that aid is getting through and is flowing and is being stepped up every day — that's really good news," said Alina Labrada, a spokeswoman for CARE.

Fox News' Greg Burke contributed to this report.

Click here for more on this story from the Times of London.

Guido Bertolaso, the head of Italy's Civil Protection Agency, told Italian television on Sunday that the U.S. military "tends to confuse military intervention with emergency intervention," and that despite the presence of 13,000 U.S. troops there, "no one is giving orders."

1. I knew when Obama took over the Haiti relief that we would be blamed for everything.
No to mention the undocumented President hasn't done a damn thing right YET!!!!!!!!!

2. Isn't our military the ones that do our emergency aid?
People are trying to find someone to blame......

3. Pack them all up and ship the survivors off to all live in ITALY!

Here's my offer: When Italy comes up with another $175 million, they can have control of the cameras.

blah blah blah. USA could send a trillion bucks to Haiti and someone would find something to complain about.

It is completely appalling that these nations put out a paltry effort, monetarily and effort-wise, but then blame us when it seems "not enough is being done", but turn around and always make us look like the bad guys in everything else..........The Euro/world trashing Americans and then screaming for our help, then saying it is not enough, is getting old and I know at least in this part of the nation, Americans are getting fed-up with it all!

I think his criticism may in many ways be well-founded, and I appreciate his call for the appointment of a civilian coordinator of humanitarian aid. It is heartbreaking to see, with so much being sent and so many in desperate need, that so little is actually getting through to the people. I read that Haiti is literally "awash" in doctors, who tragically are still amputating limbs because most have no instruments, medicines, and/or dressings with which to work, although all of these supplies have been sent in large quantities. The laudable exception to this seems to be a complete multi-area field hospital and accompanying supplies brought over by air by the Israelis and set up within eight hours of arrival. It contains operating facitilites, X-ray and imaging facilities, and separate labor and deliver rooms in addition to facilities to accomodate and treat outpatients. They brought all the needed medical staff, in addition, it seems, to the security personnel required by the UN for all foreign aid workers One wonders how the Isrealis were able to do this so quickly and effectively when field hospitals sent by the American Red Cross still are not in evidence because we are told they could not get through into Haiti and had to be rerouted through the Dominican Republic.

I know that the motives of U.S. citizens who have contributed generously to relief efforts are heartfelt and sincere, but we are only one of many nations trying to help here. And this is not about the United States: it is about helping the Haitians. Perhaps other Americans are as embarrassed as I to hear our erstwhile "virtues of generosity" trumpted repeatedly by broadcasters while these struggling people still are having to sleep every night in the streets without food or water. Necessary as the presence of troops is at this tragic outset, I agree with the French minister who said, of both the UN and the United States, the point here is to help Haiti; not to occupy it."

I was on the Gulf Coast when Hurricane Camille hit in 1969, and I was on the Gulf Coast when Katrina hit in 2005. In 1969 I was part of the relief effort. If you have never participated in a relief effort after a major disaster you have no idea of the chaos. Inadequate communications, damaged or non-existent infrastructure (roads, bridges, power, fresh water, etc.). Hurricanes are nasty things. They do a lot of damage, often killing many people. But they do not compare with earthquakes. Total destruction of nearly the whole of Puerto Prince. Over 150,000 dead to date. Port damaged. Airport damaged. I am not surprised at all at the delays, the confusion, the lack of coordination, especially when you look at a map and see that the topography requires either an approach by sea or a land approach over a relatively narrow strip of land. Does not look like too many alternatives for getting in there with relief. Moreover, you will have imbeciles emerging from the woodwork trying to run things who are totally clueless, and only serve to make a horrible situation worse.

I think the generosity of the US has been tremendous. How well our personnel (military and civilian) who have gone down there have done, I don't know. Are they adding to the chaos and confusion, or are they being hampered by it? I don't know. But I would agree it should not be used as a photo op for our politicians.