George W, Bill Clinton to Lead US Aid Team

Ex-presidents will help direct 'full-court press' on Haiti
By Harry Kimball,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 14, 2010 12:02 PM CST
George W, Bill Clinton to Lead US Aid Team
President Barack Obama makes a statement Haiti today with Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.   (AP Photo)

In addition to pledging $100 million to Haiti relief efforts, President Obama is calling in some familiar names for help. He's asked former presidents Clinton and the younger of the Bushes to lead US relief efforts, reports Politico. Clinton is currently the UN special envoy to the nation. In other developments:

  • US Special Operations forces have reopened Port-au-Prince's airport to allow relief planes to land, the Wall Street Journal reports, and a 2,000-member Marine unit will arrive tomorrow, along with possibly 5,000 Army soldiers. A hospital ship is also on the way.
  • Secretary of State Hillary Clinton weighed in on the death toll, the Christian Science Monitor reports. "Thousands and thousands—I don’t want to put a number, but tens of thousands we fear are dead, many thousands more are injured," she said. She described the US relief effort as a "full-court press."
(More Haiti earthquake dead stories.)

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