US military airdrops supplies into Haiti after earlier ruling it out as too dangerous
By APMonday, January 18, 2010
US military airdrops supplies into Haiti
WASHINGTON — The U.S. military has airdropped water and food into Haiti after earlier ruling out such a delivery method as too risky.
Maj. Tanya Bradsher, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Southern Command, said an Air Force C-17 flying out of Pope Air Force Base, N.C., on Monday dropped 14,500 MREs, or Meals Ready to Eat, and 15,000 liters of water into a secured area 5 miles northeast of the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince.
Military officials are considering whether the method was successful enough to be used throughout Haiti.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said last week that early airdrops were ruled out because they might do more harm than good, possibly triggering riots if there was no structure on the ground to distribute the supplies.
