Attached is an important eyewitness assessment of the current situation in Haiti. It was written by William McNulty, a retired marine who is a volunteer member of Team Rubicon, a self-financed and self-deployed group of former Marines, soldiers and health care professionals currently providing emergency relief in Haiti.
Phi Beta Iota: Team Rubicon is a self-financed and self-deployed group of former Marines, soldiers and health care professionals currently providing emergency relief in Haiti. Unlike the Red Cross and others, they do not skim 50% for overhead, they are there now, and every penny goes straight into Haiti.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Deputy TL McNulty, AAR. “This is a disaster on a catastrophic scale!” , please read and pass on!
2010-01-24 13:57
Short After Action Review due to time-constraints…more to follow. I´m currently in Santo Domingo about to hop a flight back to DC.
For the last six days I was operating in refugee camps in the worst hit areas of Port au Prince. I was the Asst Team Leader for Team Rubicon, a team of former Marines, soldiers, firefighters, doctors, and nurses operating in the supposed ´denied areas´ of Port au Prince. We were – and the team continues to be – FIRST RESPONDERS to wounds now over ten days old.
. . . . . . .
Sensationalist journalism prevented aid from getting to Port au Prince. . . . There were no mobs of bandits, the media was wrong. But…if the world doesn´t get there fast, there will be. People get very desperate without food and water. I would too. But since bureaucratic institutions are reactive, not proactive (by their very nature), the irresponsible journalism and circular reporting of the traditional media made even the military scared to respond in a timely fashion. I was personally told by a friend of mine at SOUTHCOM to not deploy until the security situation improved. He´s a very good friend and good at his job, but couldn´t have been more wrong.
. . . . . . .
Immediately remove anyone in the military chain of command who becomes part of the problem, or move them off base and into town so they can learn the hard way. . . . This is a disaster on a catastrophic scale, and it doesn´t have to be this bad. Hold your leaders responsible.
Read the original post at Team Rubicon Blog.
Journal: Haiti Rolling Directory from 12 January 2010
