Haiti earthquake emergency responders can take lesson from a poet

By Joseph L. Giacalone / joe@theklaxon.com / 01.20.2010

Updated on: 01.19.10 at 10:31 pm

Christopher M. Carroll/DVIDS

The relief is on the way to earthquake-ravaged Haiti, and yet, according to some, aid is not coming in fast enough.

We’ve heard that story before.

Alexander Pope’s famous quote from his poem Criticism, “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread,” is lesson one that must be addressed in this disaster, as security issues begin to spiral out of control.

At this juncture of the response and recovery phases, we cannot afford to rescue the rescuers. Rescuers face the threat of aftershocks and violence as fear grows to panic.

At present, the Haitian National Police are nonexistent and ineffective due to manpower constraints and lack of resources. Although nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), such as the American Red Cross and World Emergency Relief, have diverse experiences in disaster relief activities in high-risk areas, they often require mutual security and support requirements when conducting a unified action.

In September 1994, the U.S. military provided some similar support functions to Haiti in a United Nations sanctioned operation to return Haiti’s deposed president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, to office.

“Joint Task Forces (JTFs) 180 and 190 of the U.S. military stabilized the country by securing cities and the countryside by disarming the Haitian military,” according to the U.S. Army Field Manual 3-0, Operations.

The U.S. military has conducted support operations in countries like Somalia, Rwanda, Dominican Republic and Kosovo in order to provide needed humanitarian aid.

Four food distribution sites are being set up at the time of this writing, which makes them even more difficult to protect.

Military commanders on the ground are mitigating security mishaps by conducting risk assessments, assigning adequate personnel to critical assets, such as inbound resources to the country of Haiti.

Force protection measures for both military and civilian personnel will become risky business. Security personnel’s duties at distribution centers will include identifying workers, managing supply lines, and providing safety and security for relief workers as they hand out supplies. Establishing an effective security posture will be challenging as desperate Haitians arrive in droves at the distribution sites.

Many governmental agencies and organizations will be responsible in providing humanitarian relief and disaster recovery efforts simultaneously to re-establish Haiti’s critical infrastructure.

Until the United Nations and supporting military forces are able to provide Haiti with adequate security stabilization by establishing pockets of safe havens, disaster recovery efforts cannot be undertaken properly.

International security forces must deploy en masse and take on responsibilities of protecting relief workers and the entire population from lawlessness.

To create the conditions for long-term recovery, security forces must re-establish order and create safe areas throughout the country that will allow the people of Haiti to receive the much-needed medical treatment and essential services.

Tom Carey, The Klaxon’s military liaison, contributed to this report.