Haiti - why the anger?

I could be setting myself up for a big pasting here, so let me say first of all:

• The Haiti earthquake was a terrible event
• The Haitian people deserve the help and support of all of us
• The earthquake was nobody's fault, least of all the poor buggers who had to endure it.

What has concerned and slightly rattled me over the last few days were the reports of the Haiti victims being 'angry' about the lack of foreign aid. Specifically, the earthquake happened almost a week ago, and they are still living in tents and don't have adequate food and water. Now I can't imagine how terrible the situation must be, but can't they cut us a little slack? The day the news broke, there were search and rescue teams with sniffer dogs sent from the UK. Aid (food and water) is arriving hourly by transport plane, and supplies are being dropped over affected areas by helicopter. This isn't enough, for sure, but it's what we can do.

The problems are that the infrastructure is shot, meaning that getting things around the island is difficult, and this is compounded by the escaped gangsters from the collapsed gaol, who appear, with others, to be looting and terrorising passers-by in many areas. The airport and the aid supply dumps have had to be heavily fortified for this reason. If the situation isn't to descend into complete anarchy, some fairly rigorous security is needed, and some swift and uncompromising enforcement of public order. Security and order are vital if aid is to be got to those in need. Otherwise, it's survival of the strongest and nastiest. Meanwhile, the UN and the US are doing their best to get supplies out of the airport and into the areas that need them.

This is no-one's fault. It's how it is after a major disaster. But it seems a little premature and perhaps a little ungrateful to be getting angry at the rest of the world for their supposedly tardy response.

Having said that, the 'anger' that I have heard of and seen has been mainly reported by the BBC in the TV news bulletins. It's not very evident on the BBC website, or in other media. It's quite possible that the Haitian people are very grateful for everything that is being done, and the 'anger' is synthetic, created by leftie journalists who see a stick to beat the West with.

Meanwhile, we see an interesting contrast in priorities for our Beloved Leader.

We are sending £23m in aid to Haiti (wow, that's 38 pence each).

And the amount pledged to combat Global Hoaxing after Copenhagen?

£1.5bn, or £25 for every man, woman and child in the UK.

That's a factor of 65, if you are interested.