Assessing Haiti’s Long-Term Disaster

"The Haitian government has partially collapsed in the aftermath of the earthquake that is estimated to have killed upwards of 50,000 people. The quake devastated Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital and largest city, leaving millions homeless and hungry. While President Rene Preval is appearing in public to speak with the media and beg for international assistance, two days after the initial earthquake there appears little sign that the Haitian government is functioning on any level.

Infrastructure in Port-au-Prince is completely destroyed: emergency aid shipments are stuck in bottlenecks at every level. Local and ad-hoc hospitals are totally overwhelmed, and reports of horribly wounded but untreated victims are common. There is little or no security on the streets, and reports are starting to trickle in describing activities typical of security voids. MINUSTAH, the 9,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping force, is bringing back troops from other parts of the country, soon to be augmented by nearly 6,000 U.S. troops. Given the scale and urgency of emergency rescue and aid distribution, it is unclear whether establishing security in Port-au-Prince will be a primary role."
War is Boring