ANOTHER CATASTROPHE: HAITI

Posted by julian on January 14, 2010 in Uncategorized |
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Haiti is a country with a troubled past. Colonized by the Spanish twice and by the French once and then becoming a protectorate of the United States in the early 20th Century, this was followed by the Duvalier family dictatorship which lasted until only a few years ago. “Baby Doc” Duvalier as he was known, the last family member dictator raped and pillaged the country to such a degree; it earned the title of the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere. Racked by poverty, pollution and corruption, the last thing Haiti needed was a natural disaster.

While nutcases like Reverend Pat Robertson and right wing commentators such as Hill Billy heroin addict Rush Limbaugh have already made some pretty disgusting comments on the situation, I think President Obama and his team have displayed huge compassion and an absolute determination to get America into action to help with the huge problems on the ground. This morning I saw on MSNBC the first C 17 arriving with supplies, the start of a shuttle service getting all the necessary equipment, medicines, food and water to begin the cleanup. American volunteer organizations are already en route to do their thing on the ground alongside the American military. No country in the world can match America for mobilizing into action when a disaster occurs. In fact the world looks to us as though this is our job. Where are bin Laden and his motley crew right now? Still hiding inside caves in Pakistan plotting their next terror attack? No disrespect, but you never hear a Muslim country, even when Indonesia was hit by the Tsunami, coming forward and actively participating when disaster strikes. Where is Iran right now? Saudi Arabia? Jordan? Kuwait? No, they are silent, because they have more important things to do like funding the Taliban and Al Qaeda. These are the people who believe their religion holds the answers to the world’s prosperity.

I believe the two Samoa’s are slowly feeling the benefits of what Australia, New Zealand and America are doing investing to get those two countries back on their feet, but isolation and small population makes it a long and difficult task. Haiti is literally hundreds of miles away from America. I hope President Obama keeps FEMA and its buddies well away from Haiti, because the worst example of inaction I have ever seen in my lifetime was the Bush/Cheney deal with New Orleans. I will never forget the statement President Bush uttered to the head of FEMA, “Browny, you’re doing a great job!” New Orleans is still a mess and it is now left to Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie to be the standard bearers for the residents still suffering from Katrina.

President Obama was very smart in immediately appointing President Clinton to head the project. No-one can “rally the troops” like he can. Unlike the Bush/Cheney administration’s record with New Orleans and despite the present naysayers led by those numbskull right wing commentators, I have absolute faith in this administration’s ability to succeed in Haiti. America will excel itself as humanitarians in rebuilding Haiti and bringing hope to this desperate country, something Spain and France couldn’t do for centuries and the United Nations has failed to do for decades.

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  • Edguardo

    Many people in Haiti continue to suffer from this horrific tragedy. The images that most Americans see are those of people who are walking the streets with the look of despair and hopelessness on their faces.

    The injured are lying in hallways and on sidewalks with broken arms and legs, hoping for the chance that someone will soon be able to tend to them. People are frantically looking for missing family members. The homeless are sleeping on asphalt or in parks. Provisions are scarce, and panic may soon start to occur as food, water and medical supplies are delayed by logistics problems.

    The death toll is now estimated to be anywhere from 50,000 to 100,000. The dead line the streets and are seen in almost every TV report. Cameras show us distraught family members carting their dead relatives to the cemetery i wheelbarrows. Decomposing bodies of men, women and children are being tossed into dumpsters and trucked out of town to be deposited into mass graves.

    Life threatening diarrhea, malaria and measles may soon break out. Many of those who normally help with relief work on the island are themselves now among the missing.

    Gangs with machetes are roaming the streets, preying on the innocent for food and other valuables. Many Haitians are angry at the slow response to the emergency and are blocking the roads with corpses and burning pyres of cadavers.

    Fortunately though, most Americans are focused on the goodness that they can do to help these people. Many are making donations through their favorite charity or even on their cell phones. Americans are always generous to those in need at a time like this. They think not about themselves, but about how they can help make the lives of others better. That's just the way we are.

    And yet through it all, while this crisis continues to unfold, you Julian are somehow still capable of displaying to the world your arrogant, egotistical, pomposity by politicizing this event with your cheap, petty comments, even as the human suffering continues. You shout to the world how proud and snobbish you are because of the superior intellect that you apparently posses, all because you faithfully watch MSNBC for your news. You're somehow incapable of setting aside your hubris even at a tragic time like this, because you want the world to know that you see things the way they really are in your lopsided, cross-eyed world. For you, nobility is never missing an opportunity to malign someone with your low-brow, myopic commentary, even while people in Haiti are still dying.

    While many of us here continue to cling to the hope that the lives of those still trapped and injured may yet still be saved, you sir, continue to perfect your deceitful role as the “Ugly American”.

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