Photos: US Military Swing Into Action & Aid Haiti Amid A Barrage of Critics

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PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI: Soldiers from the U.S. Army 82nd Airborne Division walk to a Navy helicopter to be dropped off to secure an area to drop in food and water supplies near the Cite Soleil area, as relief contiues to arrive after the massive earthquake January 18, 2010 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

[tweetmeme]Planeloads of rescuers and relief supplies headed to Haiti as governments and aid agencies launched a massive relief operation after a powerful earthquake that may have killed thousands. Many buildings were reduced to rubble by the 7.0-strong quake on January 12. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images).

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PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI – JANUARY 18: A U.S. Army soldier carries an injured child from a helicopter as she is brought in for care after being hurt during the massive earthquake.

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Haitian-US citizens earthquake survivors waiting at the airport to leave Port-au-Prince return to USA, on January 17, 2010. The airport congestion also touched off diplomatic rows between the US military and other donor nations. France and Brazil both lodged official complaints that the US military, in control of the international airport, had denied landing permission to relief flights from their countries. Photo by Tolga Adanali/AA/ABACAPRESS.COM

Editor’s Note: Over recent days, there has been reported criticism from within Haiti, and formal complaints laid by France and Brazil, and its aid agencies,  that the US soldiers were “occupying” Haiti, and not prioritising medical workers.  Clearly, the US Military are providing medical aid, and other relief, on a scale we have never before witnessed. After the challenges with airport congestion  in Haiti, and aid reportedly not reaching people in need, someone needed to step in, take control and ensure there was an orderly process in order at Haiti Airport. The Haitian Government, under the circumstances, were incapable of doing that. Good on the US Military for stepping in, and stepping on diplomatic and aid agency toes, to  ensure aid reached people in need. Haitians were crying out for help. Now the US military are in Haiti,  they’re now facing criticism for doing a job they were called on to do as part of the international effort. In case governments and aid agencies need reminding, the US military are responding , along with Mexico, France, Brazil, Israel and others, to a catastrophic crisis of devastating proportions. Give them a break .


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Patients affected by the recent earthquake wait outside the Killick Haitian Coast Guard base clinic to receive treatment from U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard medical workers, January 16, 2010. (Candice Villarreal/US Navy News Photo/MCT).

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Medical staff from the U.S. Navy, left, and U.S. Coast Guard, right, treat earthquake victims at the Killick Haitian Coast Guard base clinic in Haiti, January 16, 2010. (Candice Villarreal/US Navy News Photo/MCT).

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Naval Air Crewman 2nd Class Jason Harold of Goldsboro, North Carolina, transfers a young Haitian earthquake victim from an SH-60B Seahawk helicopter during a medical evacuation in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Saturday, January 16, 2010. (Candice Villarreal/US Navy News Photo/MCT).

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Dr. Sanjay Gupta examines an injured Haitian girl in the medical facility aboard the Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) near Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, on January 18, 2010. Gupta, a practicing neurosurgeon and reporter for the CNN news network, was brought to the ship to assist in performing brain surgery on a 12-year-old Hatian girl. UPI/Erin Oberholtzer/U.S. Navy.

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Cmdr. Jerry Berman, left, a Navy surgeon, Dr. Henri R. Ford, Los Angles Pediatric Hospital Surgeon-in-Chief originally from Haiti, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, a CNN medical correspondent and practicing neurosurgeon, and Lt. Cmdr. Kathryn Berndt, a Navy surgeon, prepare a 12-year-old Haitian girl with a severe head injury for surgery aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson near Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, on January 18, 2010. Surgeons removed a piece of concrete from the child’s brain caused by the earthquake in Haiti. UPI/Michael Barton/U.S. Navy.

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U.S. military members distribute food and water to Haitian citizens in Port-Au-Prince on January 17(UPI/US Navy)

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A Haitian boy receives his meal-ready-to eat (MRE) and bottled water from U.S. military members that are distributing food and water at one of the distribution points in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on January 17(UPI/Laura A. Moore/US Navy)

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A SH-60F Sea Hawk helicopter arrives to deliver water and supplies on January 15, 2010 to Port-au-Prince (UPI/Daniel Barker/U.S. Navy).

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Sailors from the United States Navy deliver an injured U.S. citizen to USS Carl Vinson on Friday, January 15, 2010. Health Services department moved the man to one of the deck elevators for transfer to the ship’s medical facility. Carl Vinson and Carrier Air Wing 17 are conducting humanitarian and disaster relief operations in Haiti in response to the January 12, 2010, earthquake disaster. (Adrian White/US Navy News Photo/MCT)

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U.S. Army soldiers unload food and supplies on January 15, 2010 from a U.S. Navy MH-53E Sea Dragon helicopter from the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) at the airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.(UPI/Candice B. Villarreal/U.S. Navy).


Latest Photos: Earthquake Devastates Haitians; Waiting for Aid (be warned, some pictures may disturb)

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PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI: A women tends to an injured relative at a small clinic after she was caught in the massive earthquake on January 14, 2010 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Planeloads of rescuers and relief supplies headed to Haiti as governments and aid agencies launched a massive relief operation after a powerful earthquake killing possibly thousands. Numerous buildings were reduced to rubble by the 7.3-strong quake on January 12. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

[tweetmeme]In a country that has been totally dependent on the United Nations and the Red Cross even before the earthquake, the biggest blow to a swift humanitarian response in Haiti is the  United Nations Mission has suffered a major blow with more than 150 staff still missing, presumed buried under rubble.The UN Haiti mission has about 1700 staff including 1200 Haitians. Among those reportedly still missing in Haiti is the head of the UN mission.

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PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI – JANUARY 13: A man holds a severely injured woman, while waiting for assistance in the town of Canape Vert January 13, 2010 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Planeloads of rescuers and relief supplies headed to Haiti as governments and aid agencies launched a massive relief operation after a powerful earthquake that may have killed thousands. (Photo by Frederic Dupoux/Getty Images).

US President Barack Obama ordered a swift and aggressive US rescue effort, while the European Union activated its crisis systems and the Red Cross and United Nations unlocked emergency funds and supplies for the destitute nation. Much of Port-au-Prince was reduced to rubble by the 7.0-strong quake on January 12 but the airport was operational, opening the way for international relief aid to be ferried in by air as well as by sea.

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BBC World Service’s Andy Gallagher reported this morning that there  isn’t really any sense or signs of  any kind of organised  international aid relief, or search and rescue, in earthquake-stricken Haiti.

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Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince is seen from an aerial assessment mission by the American Red Cross.

BBC’s Gallagher, as he walked the rubble-strewn streets of Haiti:

…I barely saw anyone of any official capacity, just perhaps one  Haitian police car and one Haitian ambulance.

…Still no signs of international aid..People keep asking me and stopping me and asking me, where is the help, where is the supplies, where  are the promises that have been made? People just feel desperate, but more than anything else, for now completely alone.

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People walk in the streets after the earthquake.

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An injured women is seen at a makeshift field hospital in Port-au-Prince

Queried about reported problems getting aid into the international airport at Haiti, Gallagher said:

…I can hear what sounds like a C130 military plane either coming in or going out….definite activity there. The airport runway we were lead to believe was badly damaged in the earthquake but when I landed last night, it seems that the runway is fine, there is power at the airport, the runway lights do work at night, there were aircraft taking off and landing last night.

On The Ground in Haiti BBC World Service: interviews with people on the streets, aid worker, Hillary Clinton, international aid experts

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People wait in line for water from the fire department after the earthquake  in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

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A casualty is identified with a makeshift toe tag on January 13, 2010 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
(Photo by Frederic Dupoux/Getty Images).

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A car remains parked outside the ruins of a cafe January 13, 2010 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

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Outside the Villa Creole Hotel in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, January 14, 2010, the injured from surrounding areas have come for shelter and medical attention by a medical NGO, Hope for Haiti. (Carl Juste/Miami Herald/MCT)

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Haitian men transport a male earthquake victim after recovering him underneath debris in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. (Carl Juste/Miami Herald/MCT)

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Haitian men transport a male earthquake victim after recovering him underneath debris in Port-au-Prince.
(Carl Juste/Miami Herald/MCT)

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Roselyn Joseph, left, gets help in placing the body of her daughter, Emanuela Aminise, 14, inside a coffin, in Port-au-Prince.(Carl Juste/Miami Herald/MCT).

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A group of women mourn and react is disbelief as the body of the daughter of the woman in the center turns missing in Port-au-Prince
.(Carl Juste/Miami Herald/MCT).

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A woman whose leg was amputated tries to lie down on a make-shift bed inside the Eliazar Germain General Hospital where the injured seek medical help, but the medical facility has no doctors in Port-au-Prince. (Carl Juste/Miami Herald/MCT).

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A man looks at the body of a dead man outside the Villa Creole Hotel in Port-au-Prince.

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A young girl gets medical attention for her injuries outside the Villa Creole Hotel in Port-au-Prince.

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A young boy tries to rest on his mother’s lap outside the Villa Creole Hotel

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Gladys Loiuis Jeune is pulled alive from the rubble of her home after nearly 43 hours where she was greeted by her ecstatic daughter in Port-au-Prince. (Patrick Farrell/Miami Herald/MCT)

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A woman reaches joyously to Gladys Louis Jeune.

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The body of a person is trapped in the rubble of a home destroyed by the massive earthquake  in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

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A man carrying a coffin through the streets. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

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People look on as others search for survivors under a church in Port-au-Prince.(Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

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Christopher Holmes from the Fairfax County Urban Search and Rescue searches for survivors in the rubble of a building in Port-au-Prince on 14th January.

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A corpse is carried on a stretcher down a street.


Photos: USA Fort Hood Victims Farewelled By Nation, President and Families

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Army Spc. Brian Hill bows during  memorial service for the 12 soldiers and one civilian killed at Fort Hood U.S Army Post near Killeen, Texas, November 10 2009. Army Major Malik Nadal Hasan reportedly shot and killed 13 people, 12 soldiers and one civilian, and wounded 30 others in a rampage on November 5 at the base’s Soldier Readiness Center where deploying and returning soldiers undergo medical screenings. UPI/Tannen Maury/Pool Photo via Newscom. Content © 2009 Newscom All rights reserved.

Editor’s Note: At Fort Hood, with its high Samoan military population, pacificEyeWitness.org has readers based there. So, it is with them in mind that we publish these photos and honour the victims. Our deepest respect and condolences to all those who mourn their passing.

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