There's no analysis I can provide today that can do justice to the devastation that hit Haiti yesterday afternoon.
The US government is urging donations for the Red Cross and Mercy Corps.
A magnitude 7 earthquake would do serious damage in any city, but for a country like Haiti it is an absolute catastrophe. It appears even some of the best built buildings (the presidential palace, hospitals) are collapsing. Homes built on the sides of hills and with ad-hoc materials certainly did not make it through the tremors. There are very limited emergency services, not even enough to respond to the day to day tasks much less a disaster of this level. No official assessment has been done yet, but it's certain thousands or tens of thousands have been killed and billions of dollars in damage have occurred.
There was a moment last night when an official on CNN said "at least the UN peacekeeping mission (MINUSTAH) there will be able to help." About ten minutes later they reported that the UN mission headquarters had collapsed. Many UN personnel are missing and some countries are already reporting deaths. The 9,000 person mission led by Brazil includes participation of 16 countries in the hemisphere.
Even before yesterday, Haiti was a hemispheric tragedy requiring a long-term hemispheric response. Rescue efforts today are too urgent to debate the larger issues. We can get to that later.
Governments across the hemisphere are already promising disaster relief. Teams should begin arriving today. The US will send military and civilian disaster relief teams beginning today and many other countries will do so as well. President Obama has called for an "aggressive and coordinated effort." Haiti needs people on the ground immediately with equipment to provide communications, airlift, electrical power, water, food and medical assistance.
