Au-Prince, Jan 19, 2010, SPA -- U.S. Black Hawk helicopters swooped down on Haiti's wrecked presidential palace to deploy troops and supplies today as a huge relief operation to help earthquake survivors gained momentum, according to Reuters. The airborne troops in combat gear moved to secure Port-au-Prince's nearby General Hospital, where staff have been overwhelmed by huge numbers of seriously injured patients. Their dramatic deployment to help speed up logjammed aid efforts brought crowds of quake survivors camped out in the park opposite the palace rushing to its iron railings to gawk and beg for handouts of food. It was the most visible and potentially sensitive deployment so far by the U.S. military, which is spearheading international efforts to assist millions of Haitians left injured or homeless by the devastating earthquake a week ago. Venezuela's socialist President Hugo Chavez, a fiery critic of what he calls U.S. "imperialism", has accused Washington of "occupying" Haiti under the pretext of an aid operation. The commander of the U.S. troops in Haiti, Lieutenant General Ken Keen, said their primary purpose was humanitarian assistance and providing food and water to Haitians, but that there was also a security element to the operation. "Security goes hand-in-hand with our mission," he told CNN at the hospital protected by his men. Watching the soldiers, quake survivor Gille Frantz said: "We know the world wants to help us, but it has been eight days now and I have not seen any food or water for my family." In a bid to accelerate the arrival of aid and stem looting and violence, the U.N. Security Council unanimously agreed to temporarily add 2,000 U.N. troops and 1,500 police to the 9,000-member peacekeeping mission in Haiti. More than 11,000 U.S. military personnel are on the ground, on ships offshore or en route, and Haitian President Rene Preval has said U.S. troops will help U.N. peacekeepers bring order to the capital's increasingly lawless streets. Hundreds of looters have swarmed over wrecked stores in downtown Port-au-Prince since the quake struck, seizing goods and fighting among themselves.
