1,000 U.S. servicemembers are on the ground in Haiti, 9-10k by weekend

[The Straight Story]

Gates, Mullen Cite Aid Streaming into Haiti

By Jim Garamone
Armed Forces Information Services

WASHINGTON January 15, 2010 - All Defense Department resources in the Western Hemisphere are available for assisting Haiti, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said today. (Transcript | Video)

Gates and Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, briefed reporters on the situation in Haiti.

Some 1,000 U.S. servicemembers are on the ground in Haiti today, with more on the way. “The key is to get the food and the water in there as quickly as possible so that people don’t – in their desperation – turn to violence or lead to the security situation deteriorating,” the secretary said. “But at this point, other than some scavenging and minor looting, our understanding is the security situation is pretty good.”

This is a whole-of-government effort by the United States and also is an international effort, Gates said. U.S. soldiers and Marines will aid the 7,000-member United Nations force and about 2,000 police In providing security.

“We are clearly in a position to do more than others, partly by our proximity and partly by our capabilities,” Gates said. The key is coordinating the entire effort, he told reporters, and he said the coordination among the State Department, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Homeland Security Department, the Coast Guard and the Defense Department “has proceeded very well.”

By the end of the weekend, 9,000 to 10,000 American servicemembers will in Haiti or afloat offshore. Red Cross officials said the death toll from Jan. 12’s magnitude 7 earthquake could reach 50,000.

http://www.jcs.mil/newsarticle.aspx?ID=212