Journalists who are long on opinions and short on knowledge have no idea what is involved in moving hundreds of tons of relief supplies into an area the size of England in which power lines are down, telecommunications are out, no gasoline is available, bridges are damaged, roads and airports are covered with debris, and apparently have little interest in finding out.

So they libel as a "national disgrace" the most monumental and successful disaster relief operation in world history.

The entire article by Kelly is worth reading as he quotes a former Air Force logistics officer who puts this particular logistical nightmare into perspective:

We do not yet have teleporter or replicator technology like you saw on 'Star Trek' in college between hookah hits and waiting to pick up your worthless communications degree while the grown-ups actually engaged in the recovery effort were studying engineering.

"The United States military can wipe out the Taliban and the Iraqi Republican Guard far more swiftly than they can bring 3 million Swanson dinners to an underwater city through an area the size of Great Britain which has no power, no working ports or airports, and a devastated and impassable road network.

"You cannot speed recovery and relief efforts up by prepositioning assets (in the affected areas) since the assets are endangered by the very storm which destroyed the region.

The fact is, nobody, from the governors of LA or MS, to the mayor of New Orleans, to the leaders within the federal government, wanted to see a single soul die in this storm. Much has been done by all involved and I think that is commendable. Certainly, those in authority will be able to think of things they wish they would have done differently, but that is always the case when tragedy strikes, regardless of who is in charge, their political affiliation, race, national origin, gender...you get the picture.

I'm sure there is plenty of blame to go around, as well, as mistakes seemed to have been made in just about every area. There must be accounting of what is happening so the same mistakes will not be made again. It must, however, be done free of personal or political agendas.

Labels: David C. Price