WASHINGTON, March 10 (UPI) -- President Obama promised strong support Wednesday to help Haiti recover and rebuild as the U.S. military pulls forces out of the earthquake-ravaged country.
"The situation on the ground remains dire and people should be under no illusions that the crisis is over," Obama said after a White House meeting with Haitian President Rene Preval.
"And that's why, even as the U.S. military responsibly hands off relief functions to our Haitian and international partners, America's commitment to Haiti's recovery and reconstruction must endure and will endure. ... America will be your partner in the recovery and reconstruction effort."
Preval thanked the United States and other countries for "massive, spontaneous, generous help."
He called for creation of a U.N. disaster relief force that he said would make relief efforts more effective.
"This is why I support the idea of the creation of so-called red helmets within the United Nations, and these would be an observatory, a warning system, a provision system for natural disaster, and a humanitarian force which would be the equivalent of the (peacekeeping) blue helmets."
Such a humanitarian force, he said, would coordinate responses in the first minutes after a disaster.
