Wyclef Jean on Oprah: Ask More Questions Before Criticizing

I was at the gym this afternoon on the elliptical, switching back and forth between Glenn Beck and Oprah.   I've gotten to the point where Oprah annoys the beejeebers out of me, but I watched today.  Wyclef Jean, Haitian music artist, was her guest today reporting on his trips to his devastated native country.  It was sad to hear him recount what he witnessed, especially when telling of the art school he founded that had collapsed, killing students and teachers.

I have been stewing a bit following the show, finding some of Jean's accusations rather unfair.  I do, however, have to remember that this poor man is traumatized and was speaking out of his anguish.  But, the two points I wish Jean would reconsider are his saying that dropping food from helicopters to the people below was treating the Haitians like animals and that he should be running the airport and managing rescue operations.

Now, I'm not a pilot, but if one just simply considers why those helicopter pilots might be "just" dropping food, several possible reasons come to mind:

1)  Is it impossible or too dangerous to land due to obstructions and / or damage?

2)  Could landing put the helicopter and soldiers at risk?  Starving, frightened people will instinctively charge the helicopter to get supplies.  Also, I can envision people clinging to the helicopter as it tried to take off.

3)  Can the helicopters use time and fuel more efficiently by not landing to make each drop? 

To Jean's assertion that he should be involved in organizing the rescue operations, helping to land planes at the airport and directing them on where to take supplies ... well, Jean, you are no more qualified to lead mass disaster operations than I am.  (Oh, wait.  Maybe I'm a tad more qualified since I have taken a few Red Cross classes on disaster operations ... but strictly as a h-e-l-p-e-r.)  The idea of this guy running an airport where there's only one runway being used by over 100 flights per day is just begging for catastrophe.  And, just because I know the Midwest well does not qualify me to organize relief operations.

As I stated above, I do try to keep in mind that Jean has been traumatized and is speaking from passion and love.  He is obviously frustrated with how long relief operations are taking; but, we must remember that such huge devastation is not quickly addressed ... nor efficiently, given all the different groups there in the Caribbean trying to help.

Of course, with the UN being in there, that just makes the whole situation even more chaotic and inefficient ...