{"id":217079,"date":"2010-01-14T00:11:53","date_gmt":"2010-01-14T05:11:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/anthonyclarkarend.com\/?p=1964"},"modified":"2010-01-14T00:11:53","modified_gmt":"2010-01-14T05:11:53","slug":"video-and-text-special-state-department-briefing-on-haiti","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/217079","title":{"rendered":"Video and Text: Special State Department Briefing on Haiti"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n

<\/object>Briefing on the Situation in Haiti<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
Cheryl Mills<\/span>
\nCounselor<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

USAID Administrator Raj Shah and U.S. SOUTHCOM Commander General Douglas Fraser
\n<\/span><\/div>\n
Washington, DC
\n<\/span><\/div>\n
January 13, 2010<\/div>\n
\n
<\/embed>MR. CROWLEY:<\/strong> Good morning and welcome to the Department of State. As the President said earlier, we are committed to helping the people of Haiti, as well as looking after the welfare of the roughly 40,000 Americans who live and work in Haiti, including those who are part of our U.S. Embassy family in Port-au-Prince.
\nThis is a whole-of-government effort, as you\u2019ll see by the speakers who will be at the \u2013 who will give you kind of a status report on the way forward, representatives from the Department of State, Defense, and Agency for International Development. We are obviously supported by other agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, as we go forward. And as you will hear, we\u2019re responding as rapidly and effectively as we can to the difficult situation in Haiti.
\nWe\u2019ll begin this morning\u2019s briefing with Cheryl Mills, Counselor to the Secretary of State and a driving force behind Haiti policy formulation here at the State Department, followed by Raj Shah, the Administrator of USAID. And we\u2019re thrilled to have General Doug Fraser, the Commander of U.S. Southern Command, who will be coordinating the considerable military response to this disaster. But we\u2019ll begin with Cheryl Mills.
\n\"Date:<\/a>MS. MILLS:<\/strong> Good morning. Let me just first start out by saying, and echoing the sentiments of the President, that our thoughts and prayers are with the Haitian people and the vast international community that is present in Haiti as we are going through what is going to undoubtedly be a very challenging and difficult time. And we are looking forward to being able to provide all the support that we can bring to bear to try and ameliorate the impact of this terrible situation.
\nAs you all know, shortly before 5 o\u2019clock yesterday, an earthquake struck outside of Port-au-Prince and outside of the island of Haiti, and then there were multiple aftershocks that had an impact on the island as well. According to our initial overflights that have gone on this morning, it appears that most of the damage has been within Port-au-Prince, and that the outlying areas have sustained less damage or very limited damage.
\nThe situation on the ground is very fluid. We have very limited telecommunications, and certainly within the Haitian community there\u2019s limited telecommunications. We have been fortunate our U.S. ambassador has been able to reach President Preval, who is safe and who is grateful to the outpouring of assistance that he has been receiving from the international community. And they have had a couple of occasions to have a conversation.
\nAs many of the people have already seen, there are numerous structures that have sustained substantial damage, and we also know that there have been not insignificant numbers of casualties. We do not have any estimates yet of the numbers of those, nor for the number of individuals who are \u2013 who have been injured, but the situation is very severe.
\nIn addition to the numerous facilities that have sustained damage, we also note that the UN peacekeeping force headquarters also sustained considerable damage, and so we will be lending our assistance to see how we can provide the appropriate support to be able to provide search-and-rescue support in that area.
\nI\u2019m going to speak a little bit about our American citizens who are there, and Raj will be speaking about disaster assistance \u2013 Administrator Shah. And we will then have General Fraser, who will also be speaking about our military response.
\nSo in that vein, there are approximately 45,000 U.S. citizens who are in Haiti. The Embassy Port-au-Prince has activated its Early Warning System to connect with those citizens and establish, one, how they are doing and, two, what support they might need. We have received a number of reports of injured U.S. citizens, so we are working through those to be able to make sure that we are getting everybody the assistance that they need.
\nThere have been a number of calls that have come into our Consular Affairs here at the Department seeking information about loved ones who are in Haiti. For those people who are seeking information, the President gave out this number. I just want to give it one more time, and that is 1-888-407-4747. And that\u2019s a number that you can call into if you are seeking information or seeking to make a request with respect to someone who is \u2013 that you are trying to connect with that\u2019s in Haiti.
\nIn terms of Embassy personnel on the ground there, we have about 172 personnel who are there under chief-of-mission authority. As of 8:00 a.m., we had accounted for just about all of them. There were eight personnel who were wounded, four who had been seriously wounded. We have already had U.S. Coast Guard heels on the ground to be able to medevac them to get appropriate care. And so we are beginning to see that happen as well.
\nWe have ordered the departure of approximately 80 Embassy spouses, children, and non-essential personnel. Those will begin happening later today so that we can ensure that the infrastructure and resources that are there can be properly concentrated on those who are in need. The Coast Guard will have planes actually arriving, I believe, this afternoon. And I\u2019m sure General Fraser will be able to speak to that to help and assist in that evacuation process.
\nThe Embassy structure has remained intact and so it has become a point of support. And it has been providing medical support and other support for Haitians and Americans and others who have been able to reach the Embassy.
\nWe have reached out to the government of Haiti to be able to assess what their needs are and to be able to understand what their priorities are. We have launched a multiagency effort to provide disaster assistance, which is being led by Ambassador Shah through the Office of Disaster Assistance.
\nAnd so with that as a background, I\u2019m going to turn it over to Ambassador Shah, who can speak to those efforts.
\n\"Date:<\/a>ADMINISTRATOR SHAH:<\/strong> Thank you. Thank you, Cheryl. Our first comment, of course, is that our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Haiti, who have, of course, suffered a tremendous tragedy with this earthquake that started last night just before sundown. We are working aggressively and in a highly coordinated way across the federal government to bring all of the assets and capacities we have to bear to quickly and effectively provide as much assistance as possible.
\nThe goal of the relief effort in the first 72 hours will be very focused on saving lives. That is the President\u2019s top priority and is what the President has directed us to do. We will do that by first putting in place significant Disaster Assistance Relief Teams. We\u2019ll have, by the end of today, 15 members of that team doing surveillance, collecting data, identifying priority sites, and guiding the efforts of the larger search-and-response units that will following their entry into the country.
\nWe have two urban search-and-rescue units on their way, both are units with 72 individuals, people who have significant training and significant equipment and technical capacity to conduct search and rescue in urban settings, to drill through and clear as much as is possible rubble in order to try and identify individuals that can be saved and continue with the mission of saving lives. We\u2019re working aggressively across the various agencies of the federal government, including FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security, to identify additional units that will be able to deploy as rapidly as possible. And we\u2019re working hand-in-hand with the Department of Defense and General Fraser to make sure that we have the transport and logistics to get these assets into the country and efficiently operating as quickly as possible.
\nThe other comment I wanted to make is that as part of this we are also, of course, thinking about critical needs in the area of health and food, water, transportation, and infrastructure, and other advanced planning that needs to take place now so that we can, because we know that we will have quite a lot of work to do in the days and weeks ahead. We are committed to a significant effort, and we are committed to doing everything we can in all of those sectors. And so our team, which includes members from every agency in the federal government that has the capacity to help, is working to develop plans and put resources in place so that we can effectively respond to some of the requests that have come from the Haitian leadership and from our teams on the ground.
\nFinally, I\u2019ll point out that we do already have, of course, teams on the ground, including our Ambassador, our USAID mission and mission director, and other brave men and women who work for the U.S. Government in that capacity. And they\u2019ve been providing guidance and support and data and information, and are very much a part of the effort despite having themselves gone through a very significant and challenging experience. So we want to thank them for that effort.
\nSo we will be pushing forward with an aggressive and coordinated effort, focused very much on saving lives through aggressive search-and-rescue in urban \u2013 in the urban environment for the next 72 hours. And that\u2019ll be the primary focus of our engagement.
\nI\u2019ll hand it to General Fraser, who can talk about the logistics support that we are getting and that we need to continue to get and will continue to get from our armed forces in order to make sure that we\u2019re using every capacity we have in the government to be effective. Thank you.
\nGEN FRASER: <\/strong>Thank you, Raj. From the United States Southern Command and from the Department of Defense, our prayers and our condolences go out to the citizens of Haiti also. In coordination with USAID and with the entire U.S. Government, we have a significant effort undergoing to support this. From the time we found out about the earthquake, we started into motion.
\nThere are still concerns about the airport and the access to the airport in Port-au-Prince. The word we are getting is that the airport is functional but the tower and the capability to operate there are limited, and so we\u2019re pushing capability there now to be able to operate and secure that airport.
\nWe\u2019re also pushing command-and-control capability and communications. As you all know, communications has been very difficult in Haiti. And so we\u2019re pushing that to not only support U.S. forces who are there, but because of a lot of the communications from MINUSTAH was in their headquarters, that has been lost, and so we\u2019re looking to support the MINUSTAH effort as we go forward also.
\nWe also have various ships within the region, U.S. Coast Guard ships, as well as some Department of Defense ships that are moving in that direction. They have limited humanitarian assistance supplies on them, but they have some vertical lift capability, some helicopters with them.
\nIn addition, we\u2019re moving the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson <\/em>from Norfolk to the vicinity. It will take on a complement of helicopters as it proceeds, and we\u2019re hoping to have that in the vicinity of Haiti tomorrow afternoon.
\nSo we continue to robustly move capability and support into the area to provide that lifesaving assistance as well as do assessments of what the follow-on needs will be. And we\u2019re already looking beyond the immediate needs to understand, as we get those assessments in, to provide the capability as quickly as we can to Haiti. So a significant effort across the board, onboard. So thank you very much.
\nQUESTION:<\/strong> Yeah. General, can I ask, all of the \u2013
\nMR. CROWLEY: <\/strong>Why don\u2019t you identify yourself for the \u2013
\nQUESTION:<\/strong> I\u2019m Matt Lee with the Associated Press. I\u2019m wondering, considering the situation there right now and the fact that the UN appears to be not completely functional, the \u2013 you know, a hundred people trapped and their command \u2013 their communications out, and the fact that this humanitarian response is \u2013 can\u2019t really function unless there is \u2013 unless there is law and order there, I\u2019m wondering if there\u2019s been any thought given to sending troops to complement the UN forces who may or may not be able to secure the area.
\nGEN FRASER:<\/strong> We\u2019re really looking at that capacity. And as you heard, from my standpoint, the destruction is very focused, at least it appears right now, in Port-au-Prince. MINUSTAH has forces all around the island of Haiti. So we\u2019re working with them right now to get an assessment.
\nAs a matter of circumstance, my deputy commander happened to be in Haiti during the earthquake, so he\u2019s working with MINUSTAH to coordinate those efforts. So that is a significant concern that we have with security, so we\u2019re working with MINUSTAH and then doing the assessment to understand what kind of follow-on capability we\u2019re going to need.
\nQUESTION:<\/strong> So it is possible that American troops might be sent to \u2013 at least temporarily to help the UN and secure \u2013
\nGEN FRASER:<\/strong> We\u2019re very seriously looking at that. We\u2019re looking at the possibility of sending a large-deck amphibious ship that will have a Marine expeditionary unit embarked on that, and so that will be in support of MINUSTAH and the Embassy and USAID as we continue this effort.
\nMS. MILLS: <\/strong>I would just \u2013 also just stress that the commander of MINUSTAH happened to be out of Haiti at the time, and so the Coast Guard is providing him with transportation back, so he will be able to also establish command-and-control. And so in that regard, we have a fortuity of events and \u2013
\nGEN FRASER: <\/strong>Right. He should get in early this afternoon.
\nQUESTION: <\/strong>Elise Labott with CNN. Thank you for doing this. I have a couple, and maybe a few, if you can just take each one.
\nMS. MILLS: <\/strong>You have a multi-part question.
\nQUESTION:<\/strong> Multi-part. We\u2019re famous for them.
\nCheryl, in terms of the Americans, we understand that you\u2019ve only heard from a couple dozen out of 40- to 45,000 Americans. Is that \u2013 do you think that\u2019s a factor of the lack of communications and the ability to get around, or are you bracing yourselves for serious American casualties? And what\u2019s being done about that?
\nThen on the \u2013 just if you could talk a little bit about the communications with the government to this point. It seems as if the government itself \u2013 because you have your own kind of U.S. communications that are working well \u2013 but the rest of the government doesn\u2019t necessarily have communications. So how are you working with them not just on kind of talking, but given the state of Haiti even before the earthquake, they had a lack of capacity, a lack of infrastructure, you know, the government, while stable, certainly needed a lot of help to begin with.
\nSo, I mean, how are you dealing with this delicate balance of dealing with the Haitian Government that was \u2013 needed help to begin with and now not trying to be seen as taking over, but seriously know that you can provide a lot of capability right now?
\nMS. MILLS: <\/strong>Let me try to address both of your questions. In terms of U.S. casualties, we are a \u2013 we\u2019ve activated our warden system there, which is in communication with our folks that are on the ground there and American citizens there. We have not yet had reports of major U.S. casualties. We are obviously going to continue to monitor the situation. We do have \u2013 we have relatively good communication in terms of being able to start doing some assessments of where folks are, and so that\u2019s what we\u2019re going to continue to do, and we\u2019re going to continue to be hopeful that this \u2013 it works out for everybody on the ground there, Haitian or American.
\nWith respect to government communications, Ambassador Joseph from Haiti has indicated a request for communication support, and that\u2019s something that we are going to be providing. USAID and DOD are providing support that will actually arrive there today and be able to provide that kind of support, because I do believe that one of the challenges is being able to communicate among themselves as a government and to their people, and we\u2019re going to do the very best that we can to provide that kind of support to them so they can do so.
\nQUESTION:<\/strong> Administrator Shah, could you just pick up on the point of the kind of \u2013 even before the earthquake, the lack of development and infrastructure in the country puts Haiti \u2013 this seems to be a country that can afford it the least right now. So how do you, you know, not be seen as taking over, but know that certainly the government doesn’t have the resources to provide?
\nADMINISTRATOR SHAH:<\/strong> Well, it\u2019s without question that Haiti has had less capacity than we have here, of course, to administer these types of efforts and to run these types of emergency operations. We\u2019re working in close coordination with the Haitian Government. We are \u2013 the principle of our assistance, whether humanitarian or development and its orientation, is around deep partnership with those whom we work with and serve. And so we are being responsive to their stated request for health and medical services, for example, by deploying specific assets to meet the needs that they have there and exploring a range of other things we can do by standing up emergency medical services and emergency medical facilities in Port-au-Prince.
\nWe will continue to stay connected and communicate with them. That\u2019s why we\u2019re sending the communications package to allow the leadership there to have regular access to effective communications. And we made that a priority and put that on the first plane down. So we will continue to work with them to stand this up, but you\u2019re right, it\u2019s going to be a challenging operation for everyone involved. But we have the resources and the capacities to be effective, and so we\u2019re going to work that way.
\nQUESTION:<\/strong> Thank you.
\nMR. CROWLEY:<\/strong> Michelle.
\nQUESTION:<\/strong> Michelle Kelllerman with National Public Radio. You talk about saving lives is the priority, but I wonder if you have any sense of where these teams of \u2013 rescue teams are going to head first. I mean, do they go first to the UN Headquarters or their hospitals? Talk about \u2013 a little bit about the priorities.
\nADMINISTRATOR SHAH:<\/strong> Sure, and I may ask my colleagues to help address that. That\u2019s why we send the Disaster Assistance Response Team in to do the assessment. We\u2019re also getting information, of course, from our partner countries around the world from the UN system, and of course, some of the challenging situations they are facing right now, and from our various partners in Haiti. But we will have a team on the ground that can actually survey firsthand. We have overflight data right now that\u2019s getting better by the moment that\u2019s allowing us to get a sense of where the destruction is and what the priorities ought to be. And our goals will be to save as many lives as possible in the first 72 hours, because that is the window in which that is a possible outcome. So we\u2019ll stay very focused on that while meeting the obvious priorities of supporting our American personnel there and the personnel of our partners.
\nMS. MILLS:<\/strong> Can I just \u2013 I\u2019ll only add one thing. The UN is also sending in a disaster team that is going to help coordinate all the different efforts that are coming in from multiple countries, and so we anticipate being in close partnership with them as they go about making those assessments as well and providing whatever support that we can.
\nMR. CROWLEY:<\/strong> Charles.
\nQUESTION:<\/strong> Charlie Wolfson with CBS. First of all, General Fraser, can you tell us how many Marines are on that ship, the Vinson<\/em>? I believe it is called the Vinson<\/em>.
\nGEN FRASER:<\/strong> Well, on the first ship going down there, there are no Marines down there. On the aircraft carrier that\u2019s going in, it\u2019s really going to be to provide the support lift. That ship just happened to be out of port. It was training and it has a limited capacity onboard, and so that\u2019s why as it goes south we\u2019re going to put a complement of helicopters on it. So we\u2019re providing and provisioning the carrier as it steams south, so there is not a complement of Marines on there right now.
\nThe ship that I was talking about where there may be is a large-deck amphibious ship. That\u2019s another day or two away, and so it will have a standard Marine expeditionary unit. Don\u2019t tie me to the precise numbers \u2013 roughly, 2,000 Marines potentially on there. But we\u2019re still determining that right now.
\nMR. CROWLEY:<\/strong> Margaret.
\nQUESTION:<\/strong> Margaret Warner, the PBS NewsHour. General Fraser, under what circumstances would you feel it is necessary to deploy the Marines there? In other words, is it a question of keeping civil order, or is it just facilitating the disbursement of supplies? And what is the situation on the ground in terms of the degree of order or disorder?
\nGEN FRASER:<\/strong> From what I\u2019ve been told by General Keen, who is my deputy commander who is on the ground, is the situation is calm right now. And so we\u2019re anticipating going in being able to provide that humanitarian assistance, that lifesaving effort, and that\u2019s going to be the focus primarily getting out there. So it\u2019s going to be our assessments that are going to determine, in conjunction with MINUSTAH and the other international partners who are there, how best to deal with any security situations that come up.
\nQUESTION:<\/strong> So are you saying the Marines are being sent there as \u2013 for a security situation or simply that they may be actually needed to help facilitate the delivery of aid?
\nGEN FRASER:<\/strong> What I\u2019m saying is we don\u2019t know precisely what the situation is on the ground, so we\u2019re leaning forward to provide as much capability as quickly as we can to respond to whatever the need is when we get there.
\nADMINISTRATOR SHAH:<\/strong> Could I also address that? This is about having options. And the President has asked us to make sure we look across the entire government, all of our capabilities, and make sure we generate as many options as possible. We\u2019re doing that on the health side, where we\u2019re standing up two or three different types of emergency medical service provision strategies. And as we get real information on the ground about what is the best way to pursue the President\u2019s goal of saving lives in this critical timeframe, we\u2019ll be able to narrow those options and make strategic decisions. But we are in the process of trying to generate as many potential options and put as many assets as we have into where they could potentially be used quickly and efficiently to achieve that goal.
\nQUESTION:<\/strong> Yes, for General Fraser. This is Luis Martinez with ABC News. You mentioned the Marines, but the Army also has the Global Response Force with the 82nd<\/sup> Airborne and the brigade out there. Have you given any consideration to them possibly assisting in this effort?
\nGEN FRASER:<\/strong> We have given consideration to that, so we have put various forces around the Armed Forces on alert so that as we get the assessments in we are postured to move those forces in an expeditious manner. So we have put a brigade on alert just in the circumstance. So we\u2019ll determine that as we get the assessments.
\nQUESTION:<\/strong> In the flow of air resources flying in, do you anticipate tomorrow C-17s coming on a regular pattern or \u2013
\nGEN FRASER:<\/strong> I think it\u2019s going to be an international effort that we go \u2013 we\u2019re working with USAID. We\u2019re trying to understand what the other partners are doing there. I think it\u2019s also important to understand that there\u2019s really one airfield, one runway, limited ramp space. The terminal is not functional right now, or we\u2019re not certain what the status of it is, so it\u2019s a difficult environment that we\u2019re going into. So we\u2019re trying to understand that. We think that we\u2019re going to \u2013 we\u2019re working our team in there to make sure that we can operate that airfield as efficiently as we can to keep the flights moving in and out of it. We\u2019re also taking an assessment of the port, because in likelihood, the port of Port-au-Prince will be more important in being able to move a volume of goods through. We don\u2019t know what the status of that is, so we\u2019re looking at all of the options to try and make sure that we have as much flexibility as possible.
\nQUESTION:<\/strong> Mike Emanuel from Fox News. I know it\u2019s early on the disaster, but I\u2019m wondering if there\u2019s a relevant disaster that this seems to compare to from experience so the American public maybe can get their minds around exactly what\u2019s going on there.
\nADMINISTRATOR SHAH:<\/strong> Well, rather than comparing this to a previous disaster, I would just say that this does present unique challenges because so many of our partners and many of our own people are in a position where we\u2019re still accounting for their safety and their security. And certainly, that\u2019s the case, as was mentioned, with the UN team out there.
\nSo of course, these are people who have gone through a lot in the last day and now are also called upon to help protect and serve others. And it will be challenging, they will need all of our support, and that\u2019s why when the President asked us to be swift and aggressive and coordinated in doing this, we\u2019re bringing together the entire federal government to make sure we have as many options as we possibly can to provide that support as quickly as possible.
\nQUESTION:<\/strong> Thank you.
\nMR. CROWLEY:<\/strong> Ken.
\nQUESTION:<\/strong> Ken Dulaney and USA Today<\/em>. Administrator Shah, you mentioned you were looking to deploy more urban search-and-rescue teams. Does the federal government have that capability or are other countries pledging to move those in? Or where are you looking for those teams?
\nADMINISTRATOR SHAH:<\/strong> Well, both, and in particular through our partnership with FEMA, we can expand our capacities and make sure that in addition to the teams that the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance has ready to go, we can explore using other teams and getting them ready and getting them in place quickly. So that\u2019s what we\u2019re doing to try to expand the search and rescue immediately.
\nQUESTION:<\/strong> But \u2013 so why was it just the two initially? Is that all that were ready to deploy sort of at a moment\u2019s notice?
\nADMINISTRATOR SHAH:<\/strong> Well, two teams of 72 people each with significant equipment, training with all of their visas and international training and status ready to go is a significant capability. In addition to that, and really in parallel, it was not something where we waited before we deployed. We built \u2013 we have a partnership with FEMA and are trying \u2013 and are deploying a third team. And we will look to get other teams onboard as well. Part of the challenge will be getting information from the ground, which we will start to do in a matter of hours, understanding the priorities, and letting that guide the capabilities we have so that we can affect this work in a really coordinated way.
\nQUESTION:<\/strong> Where\u2019s the third team coming from?
\nADMINISTRATOR SHAH:<\/strong> The third team is currently based in Miami.
\nMR. CROWLEY:<\/strong> Goyal.
\nQUESTION:<\/strong> Raghubir Goyal, India Globe & Asia Today<\/em>. Administrator Shah, if you go back 2001, January 26th<\/sup>, in your state where you come from, the state of Gujarat in India, thousands of people died and millions were homeless. And what \u2013 the people of Gujarat were not ready just like the people of Haiti this time \u2013 what can you learn from that? And what you have for the people of Haiti this time?
\nADMIINSTRATOR SHAH:<\/strong> Well, that\u2019s a broader question. We\u2019re going to stay very focused in the short term on the search and rescue and saving lives in the first 72 hours. The question does touch on when the rebuilding commences, and it will commence, thinking in a smart and strategic way about building the right types of structures and building the right types of institutions that can be more resilient in the future.
\nAnd of course, our agencies and many of the other agencies that we are working with around the federal government have had a wealth of experience working in disaster environments, and there are ways to be prepared. But right now, our focus is entirely on the search-and-rescue effort, and the effort to save lives in the first 72 hours.
\nQUESTION:<\/strong> I mean, what sort of international help you are seeking from other countries, like let\u2019s say, including India? Because maybe in this case, doctors and medical help and all that sort of \u2013
\nADMINISTRATOR SHAH:<\/strong> Well, there are a wide range of countries that have offered to provide support, and those are coming in by the moment. So we are working through that and trying to have a coordinated approach on the ground to make sure we execute that in a way that\u2019s most effective. For example, I believe the Dominican Republic is offering helicopter transport support and a few other capacities. Those are important partnerships that we hope to have with a range of international partners.
\nQUESTION:<\/strong> Are you specifically coordinating the international assistance, or is this done through the Haitians with your assistance, or how does that work?
\nADMINISTRATOR SHAH:<\/strong> Well, we\u2019re working with the Haitian Government. We\u2019re working with the U.S. Government in a broad way, the Department of State and others. Right now, we have an Embassy that is standing and with some communications, so we will do everything we possibly can with the capabilities we have to make sure that we\u2019re serving the Haitian people and that we\u2019re serving American citizens in that environment and trying to save lives. And if that means being more active and aggressive and fast about trying to secure commitments and support from other countries and trying to coordinate that effort, we\u2019re prepared to do that.
\nMR. CROWLEY:<\/strong> One or two more.
\nQUESTION:<\/strong> He already responded to the question that was about international coordination, so we are –
\nMR. CROWLEY:<\/strong> Very good. Thank you very much.
\nQUESTION:<\/strong> Thank you.
\nGEN FRASER:<\/strong> Thank you.<\/div>\n

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