The US Navy hospital ship Comfort departed Haiti Wednesday. In the harbor off of Port-au-Prince, its gleaming white topsides accented with red crosses have been a conspicuous symbol of US generosity since the country's devastating earthquake. For 11 days before it departed, as some hospitals on the ground in Haiti overflowed with patients, no inpatients with earthquake injuries were treated onboard. "They're not a solution. They're an emergency bridge," said Miriam Aschkenasy, who runs a Haitian relief effort. "To me, that's what I see their role is, and I think they played that perfectly."
