Professionals

"We are letting the professionals do what they do best." This was basically what I was told when I asked a friend about helping in Haiti. First, let me say that it was the right response from him. He is not in a position to do more. But I think it is clear that somebody needs to be able to do something because the "professionals" don't know what they are doing.

I felt a lot of embarrassment after Katrina with the way my government responded to the crisis. I had hoped that we had learned our lesson. But the Haiti earthquake has proven that the professionals are still clueless.

It really is simple. No matter what sort of threat you may think exists in the target area, Port-Au-Prince and New Orleans in this case, it dissolves immediately after a major catastrophe. It's like a boxer that has been stunned and left reeling. They have been knocked out.

So here is the basic strategy that should be used to respond to major disasters.

- During the first 3 or 4 days there is no security threat. You can walk through the worst neighborhood in the city with no problem. The most hardened thug will help you rescue people. That means you can take advantage of the situation and immediately start saving lives. It is also the perfect time to flood the region with food and water and basic medicines. Yes, there may some loss do to lack of control but it will be minimal in the grand scheme of things. The result is that a lot of lives will be saved.

- By day 4 or 5 (it depends on the severity of the devastation) security will begin to be an issue. Now is the time to start rolling out the security apparatus. I understand that to have it ready in time there needs to be lead time but it should be secondary in days 1 through 3. Now the people who are all ready on the ground can have a place to retreat to should they begin to feel threatened. Of course, the immediate relief also reduces the security threat anyway.

Simple. Do everything to help save lives immediately. Everything else can come later.