A nice little story in StrategyPage today about humanitarian efforts to relieve the suffering of Nicaraguans and Hondurans as a result of Hurricane Felix by the US Navy:U.S. Navy ships were holding training exercises off Panama last week, a huge hurricane slammed into nearby Honduras and Nicaragua. The amphibious ship USS Wasp was quickly ordered to head north for the battered Nicaraguan east coast, and render all assistance. The 40,000 ton Wasp is basically an aircraft carrier that also carries landing craft and over a thousand marines. Most of the marines are elsewhere (Iraq and Afghanistan), but the medical facilities on the ship are staffed, and can treat 600 casualties, using four main and two emergency operating rooms, plus all the other facilities you'd expect to find in a hospital. Nicaragua, of course, is currently being run by Daniel Ortega and the Sandinistas - bitter enemies of the United States. I wonder what the Nicaraguan people would think about this response from...(Read Full Post)