Please note that (a) “There’s a real requirement to act quickly”, and (b) “There was no need for DART earlier”. Thanks. (Both are quotes from DART commander Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Voith. Thanks again.)
My wacky plan would call for Canadian aid of every description (half of which we’re entirely incapable of anymore, but it would be rectified) to be dispatched within approximately three minutes of word on Fox News channel that a seven-point-whatever earthquake has occurred; and then returned home if it really, honestly, was not needed. I do realize that this would bypass all manner of bureaucracy and dithering, which is not the Canadian way any more, despite Prime Minister Paul Martin’s admonishment to Canadians at election time that “we lead the world” in this sort of thing.
I do realize my wacky plan might save lives, and might not. And it might cost cash that Martin would otherwise spend renting planes from RUSSIA and helicopters from LATVIA.
Grim earthquake toll greets DART
“There’s a real requirement to act quickly,” DART commander Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Voith said in an interview.
Advance teams for DART arrived at an airport in Islamabad on the weekend, bringing their numbers to 40. A leased Russian-built Antonov transport plane was scheduled to bring more equipment today, and another will bring 140 more team members on Tuesday.
Separately, two Latvian helicopters rented by Canada are expected in Islamabad today, and will likely start running missions into the mountains early this week. Canadian officials had hoped to start operating the helicopters on the weekend, but they were delayed by a delivery mix-up that sent them to the wrong city in Pakistan.
The full 200-member DART force, including infantry, medics and engineers, isn’t expected until Oct. 25. Their work has already started, however, as Lt.-Col. Voith and a reconnaissance group visited Muzaffarabad yesterday to test the idea of placing DART near the ravaged northern city.
The Canadian delegation is hoping that local politicians will get their first taste of water purified with DART’s reverse osmosis system at a ceremony this weekend.
[…] DART was accused of deploying too slowly after the recent tsunamis, and aid workers say the Canadians have reacted more quickly this time. Some say Canada is still hampered by the lack of aircraft capable of moving the team, however, as other countries have been flying in relief for days.
“There was no need for DART earlier,” Lt.-Col. Voith said on the weekend. “Before today, it was a rescue operation. . . .We’re not about trying to bust through concrete slabs.”
In fact, Canadians who work for non-governmental agencies have done more than dig survivors out of the rubble over the last week. […]
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