War machines bring food, water, hope to Haiti

Speaking to the media on Saturday at Toussaint L'Ouverture International Airport, Haitian President René Préval said: "The damage I have seen here can be compared to the damage you would see if the country was bombed for 15 days. It is like in a war."

But it was almost impossible to hear Préval over the noise of US Air Force helicopters and airplanes on the tarmac behind him. With Préval's permission, the US Air Force has taken control of Haiti's main airport.

By daybreak on Saturday, a 115-person Air Force team, which arrived overnight in five C-17 cargo planes filled with air-traffic management equipment, had brought order to chaos. A steady stream of flights is now arriving and departing even during the predawn hours, the first time the airport has been able to accept night-time flights since last Tuesday's earthquake destroyed large parts of Haiti.

Obama, Bush and Clinton

Meanwhile, the USS Carl Vinson, a nuclear-powered warship with a crew of more than 3,000, has docked off Haiti's shores. Its water-purifying equipment can make 1.8 million litres of drinking water a day.

The Vinson and the Air Force team have joined a rapidly expanding contingent of US troops in Haiti. More than 3,000 soldiers from the Army's 82nd Infantry Division are now on the ground, and the USS Bataan, carrying 2,200 Marines, will arrive off the coast of Haiti later this week alongside the USNS Comfort, the military's largest medical ship.

President Barack Obama said America would give $100 million to the devastated country and promised that the people of Haiti "will not be forgotten". Obama announced on Saturday that former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton will lead the effort to raise funds to rebuild Haiti.