Haiti chaos hampers delivery of aid

Port-Au-Prince: U.S. Navy helicopters touched down on the grounds of Haiti’s damaged presidential palace on Tuesday bringing reinforcements in the struggle for security and earthquake disaster relief. Haitians jammed the palace grounds, some cheering as the soldiers emerged. “We are happy that they are coming, because we have so many problems,” said one.

Given the circumstances, he did not even mind the troops taking up positions at the presidential palace. “If they want, they can stay longer than in 1915,” he said, a reference to the start of a 19-year U.S. military presence in Haiti — something American officials have repeatedly insisted they have no intention of repeating.

A week after the magnitude-7.0 quake struck, killing an estimated 200,000 people, the U.N. Security Council also was expected to approve additional peacekeeping forces and some 2,000 U.S. Marines who arrived in the region a day earlier were parked offshore on ships. The port remains blocked. Distribution of food, water and supplies from the city’s lone airport to the needy are increasing but still remained a work in progress, frustrating many survivors who sleep in the streets and outdoor camps of tens of thousands. — AP