Gwinnett Daily Post

The Associated Press. A U.S. Army soldier speaks on a radio on the top of a military vehicle in downtown Port-au-Prince on Tuesday. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday she resents criticism of the level of U.S. effort to help stricken Haiti. Thousands of U.S. troops arrived to the country after the Jan. 12 earthquake to treat the wounded, distribute relief supplies, clear roads and direct air traffic.

WASHINGTON -- Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday she resents criticism of the U.S. effort to help stricken Haiti and pledged to redouble efforts to help survivors of the Jan. 12 earthquake.

''I deeply resent those who attack our country, the generosity of our people and the leadership of our president in trying to respond to historically disastrous conditions after the earthquake,'' Clinton said.

Separately, the State Department said the U.S. death toll in the Haiti quake is nearing 100. Spokesman P.J. Crowley said the U.S. has confirmed 60 American deaths, and there are another 37 fatalities whose identities have not been established.

In her response to criticism of the U.S. effort in Haiti, Clinton cited the news media but not other governments.

''Some of the international press either misunderstood or deliberately misconstrued what was a civilian and military response, both of them necessary in order to be able to deliver aid to the Haitians who desperately needed it,'' Clinton told a gathering of State Department employees.

''I have absolutely no argument with anyone lodging a legitimate criticism against our country,'' she said. ''I think we can learn from that, and we are foolish if we keep our head in the sand and pretend that we can't.''

Asked whom Clinton was referring to, Crowley mentioned criticism from Italy and France, plus news reporting from Haiti by the Al-Jazeera news network and CNN that he said was unfair.

Crowley called reports by Al-Jazeera's English-language channel inflammatory.

''It suggested there was a militarization of the effort. It compared military activities at the airport to a little 'green zone,''' he said. ''We thought that was inappropriate.''

The area of downtown Baghdad containing the U.S. occupation authority following the 2003 invasion became known as the Green Zone.