Haiti earthquake: France criticises US 'occupation'

French military rescuers help their search dog exit a plane as they arrive in Port-au-Prince on Thursday.

U.S. military air traffic controllers are scrambling to keep earthquake aid flowing into the Haitian capital without the use of a control tower or radar, and amid struggles over fuel, tarmac space and even staircases to access planes.

With all the hurdles facing rescue and relief efforts in this shattered city, it appears the first to overcome are at its major entry point for supplies. U.S. federal officials halted nonmilitary flights for eight hours Thursday at the request of the Haitian government, leaving dozens of planes circling.

U.S. Southern Command
The Commander in Chief of SOUTHCOM is responsible for all U.S. military activities on the landmasses of Central and South America, the island nations of the Caribbean, and the surrounding waters south of Mexico. The dimensions and diversity of this theater are often not well understood by US citizens. From north to south the distance is approximately 7,000 miles, and from east to west more than 3,000 miles. Brazil is larger than the continental United States; Peru is three times the size of California. There are 32 sovereign nations in this theater, each one committed to the development of social and political systems appropriate to its culture and circumstances. SOUTHCOM is a joint command comprised of Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine elements. Headquarters SOUTHCOM has approximately 850 men and women of all services and 130 civilians. It is the smallest of all the unified command staffs. The headquarters includes representatives from the Department of State, DEA, DIA, NSA, the Coast Guard, and Customs.

There is one subordinate Joint Task Forces (JTF) and one Joint Interagency Task Force (JIATF) within SOUTHCOM. JTF-Bravo at Soto Cano Air Base, Honduras, operates a C-5 capable airfield and supports regional confidence building activities. Joint Interagency Task Force-East (JIATF-E) is an interagency organization designed to facilitate coordination of military counterdrug efforts in the Source and Transit Zones. (JIATF-South, which was located in Panama, merged with JIATF-East effective 1 May 1999.) JSSROC is a fusion cell for sensitive reconnaissance missions. It reports counterdrug radar and link information and provides radar control to aircraft during contingency operations. Finally, there are 26 Security Assistance Organizations (including one in Mexico, even though it is outside the command’s AOR) representing SOUTHCOM on U.S. country teams throughout the region. (NOTE: SAO in Guyana established summer 1999.)