National Security Online Resource Center

Our thoughts and prayers here at NSORC go out to the victims of an earthquake that struck the island nation of Haiti this week. A report of the tragedy can be found at any news source, but here is one report containing numerous details of the disaster. The earthquake, which measured a 7.0 out of 10 on the Richter scale, has potentially killed upwards of 100,000 people (although estimates vary considerably) and has reportedly destroyed the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince and most hospitals in the city, which renders this earthquake even more damaging.

Fortunately, international aid has poured into Haiti from the United States, the United Nations, and countries such as France. In fact, one sports retailer is sending t-shirts featring now-former University of Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin, who left Tennessee after one season to coach at the University of Southern California.

President Obama acted swiftly and sent troops and aid to Haiti. This is a good opportunity for the United States to show its benevolence to the rest of the world. Readers of this blog know that I rarely discuss President Obama without offering criticism, but I will defer to the President for now.

I will continue to update readers as more information becomes available. But for now please think of the victims and remember how fortunate we are.