Let's Send Our Hospital Ships to Gaza
If Ever There Was a Dire Need.......
The U.S. Navy has two massive hospital ships: the USNS Mercy (1) and the USNS Comfort (2).
Just two weeks ago, the Mercy docked in San Diego following a five month good will voyage. “The mission was primarily to provide medical care and humanitarian and disaster relief training to the Pacific islands. The Mercy — which has participated in such conflicts as Operation Desert Storm — has so far performed more than 410 surgeries and 12,000 dental procedures during the deployment.” (3)
In 2022, the east coast-based Comfort traveled to Caribbean countries and delivered medical and other humanitarian assistance. (4)
During 2023, a newer style of ship – the expeditionary fast transport USNS Burlington – also deployed to the Caribbean. Its mission was, in part, to work “...alongside partner nation medical personnel to provide care in community clinics…” (5)
Hence a rhetorical question: why not staff and equip these ships and dispatch them to the coast of Gaza?
Sources:
(1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USNS_Mercy
(2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USNS_Comfort
(3) https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/military/story/2024-02-12/hospital-ship-usns-mercy-returns
(5) https://www.navy.mil/Press-Office/News-Stories/Article/3483131/us-4th-fleet-announces-continuing-promise-2023-deployment/
A cautionary tale:
An aside: at the onset of the pandemic in early 2020, both the Mercy (in Los Angeles) and the Comfort (in New York) were made available for treatment of non-COVID patients. https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/2134688/usns-mercy-usns-comfort-receiving-patients-in-la-new-york-city/ They were very lightly used, however. https://news.usni.org/2020/04/27/hospital-ship-comfort-ends-nyc-covid-19-mission-after-treating-182-patients