News briefs on the Haiti earthquake

U.S. troops en route to aid relief efforts

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. officials are laying out a massive military response to the Haiti earthquake, saying ships, helicopters, transport planes and a 2,000-member Marine unit are either on the way or likely to begin moving soon.

Gen. Douglas Fraser, head of the U.S. Southern Command, said Wednesday that one of the U.S. Navy's large amphibious ships will likely head to Haiti with a Marine expeditionary unit aboard. Fraser said other U.S. military forces are on alert, including a brigade, which includes about 3,500 troops.

President Barack Obama promised earlier Wednesday to mount an all-out rescue and humanitarian effort to help the people of Haiti overcome a "cruel and incomprehensible" tragedy."

Dozens of Americans seek help at embassy

WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department says dozens of Americans have made their way to the American Embassy in Haiti for medical attention or other assistance in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake.

State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley says that another group of about 160 Americans was at the airport outside the capital of Port-au-Prince Wednesday, seeking a way to leave the Caribbean nation.

Crowley said U.S. C-130 military aircraft are expected to begin evacuating Americans in the coming hours and days.

Televangelist blames quake on devil pact

WASHINGTON (MCT) — The Rev. Pat Robertson, a conservative televangelist, on Wednesday blamed the earthquake in Haiti on a "pact with the devil" purportedly entered into by the Haitian people in the late 18th century.

"Something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it. They were under the heel of the French … and they got together and swore a pact to the devil," Robertson said on his Christian Broadcasting Network show. "They said, 'We will serve you if you'll get us free from the French.' True story. … Ever since, they have been cursed by one thing after another."

Hours after his comments ignited a media firestorm, Robertson's "700 Club" TV show issued a statement elaborating on his remarks.