The US has never wanted Haitian self-rule, and its focus on 'security concerns' has hampered the earthquake aid response
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- guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 20 January 2010 23.00 GMT
- Article history
On Monday, six days after the earthquake in Haiti, the US Southern Command finally began to drop bottled water and food from an air force C-17. US defence secretary Robert Gates had previously rejected such a method because of "security concerns".
If people do not get clean water, there could be epidemics of water-borne diseases that could greatly increase the death toll. But the US is now sending 10,000 troops and seems to be prioritising "security" over much more urgent, life-and-death needs. This in addition to the increase of 3,500 UN troops scheduled to arrive.
On Sunday morning the world-renowned humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders complained that a plane carrying its portable hospital unit was re-routed by the US military through the Dominican Republic. This would cost a crucial 48 hours and an unknown number of lives.
On Sunday, Jarry Emmanuel, air logistics officer for the UN's World Food Programme, said: "There are 200 flights going in and out every day, which is an incredible amount for a country like Haiti ... But most flights are for the US military."
Yet Lieutenant General PK Keen, deputy commander of the US Southern Command, reports that there is less violence in Haiti now than there was before the earthquake hit. Dr Evan Lyon, of Partners in Health, a medical aid group famous for its heroic efforts in Haiti, referred to "misinformation and rumours … and racism" concerning security issues.
Long before the earthquake, Haiti's plight has been comparable to that of many homeless people on city streets in the US: too poor and too black to have the same effective constitutional and legal rights as other citizens. In 2002, when a US-backed military coup temporarily toppled the elected government of Venezuela, most governments in the hemisphere responded quickly and helped force the return of democratic rule. But two years later, when Haiti's democratically elected president Jean-Bertrand Aristide was kidnapped by the US and flown to exile in Africa, the response was muted.
Unlike the two centuries of looting and pillage of Haiti since its founding by a slave revolt in 1804, the brutal occupation by US marines from 1915 to 1934, the countless atrocities under dictatorships aided and abetted by Washington, the 2004 coup cannot be dismissed as "ancient history." It was just six years ago, and it is directly relevant to what is happening there now.
The US, together with Canada and France, conspired openly for four years to topple Haiti's elected government, cutting off almost all international aid in order to destroy the economy and make the country ungovernable. They succeeded. For those who wonder why there are no Haitian government institutions to help with the earthquake relief efforts, this is a big reason. Or why there are 3 million people crowded into the area where the earthquake hit. US policy over the years also helped destroy Haitian agriculture, for example, by forcing the import of subsidised US rice and wiping out thousands of Haitian rice farmers.
Aristide, the country's first democratically elected president, was overthrown after just seven months in 1991, by military officers and death squads later discovered to be in the pay of the CIA. Now Aristide wants to return to his country, something that the majority of Haitians have demanded since his overthrow. But the US does not want him there. And the René Préval government, which is completely beholden to Washington, has decided that Aristide's party – the largest in Haiti – will not be allowed to compete in the next elections (originally scheduled for next month).
Washington's fear of democracy in Haiti may explain why the US is now sending 10,000 troops and prioritising "security" over other needs.
This military occupation by US troops will raise other concerns in the hemisphere, depending on how long they stay – just as the recent expansion of the US military presence in Colombia has been met with considerable discontent and distrust in the region. And non-governmental organisations have raised other issues about the proposed reconstruction: understandably they want Haiti's remaining debt cancelled, and grants rather than loans (the IMF has proposed a $100m dollar loan). Reconstruction needs will be in the billions of dollars: will Washington encourage the establishment of a functioning government? Or will it prevent that, channelling aid through NGOs and taking over various functions itself, because it of its long-standing opposition to Haitian self-rule?
But most urgently, there is a need for rapid delivery of water. The US air force has the capability to deliver enough water for everyone who needs it in Haiti, until ground supply chains can be established. The more water is available, the less likely there is to be fighting or rioting over this scarce resource. Food and medical supplies could also be supplied through air drops. These operations should be ramped up, immediately. There is no time to lose.
As a grief-stricken, shattered Haitian who lost loved ones in the earthquake, I want the U.S. military invasion of Haiti to stop now.
Soldiers are trained to kill, not provide humanitarian relief. And the U.S. military is about domination and conquest, as Haitians know too well.
We lived through a brutal U.S. military occupation from 1915 to 1934. We endured the U.S.-supported Duvalier dictatorships that followed. We saw the hands of the U.S. government in the regime changes of 1991 and 2004 that forced President Aristide from office.
The strong-arm tactics of the U.S. are on display again. Soldiers took over the airport the day after they arrived, over the objections of the Haitians working in the damaged control tower, who were pushed aside like trash.
The U.S. military is using the airport for important things, don’t you see? Those buried under the rubble — more than 300,000 homeless Haitians who have not eaten or found clean water to drink when the mountains crumbled on them — can wait.
First, the Americans, Canadians, and Europeans who have been stuck in Haiti for two interminable days must be rescued immediately. Haitians, with nowhere to go, can wait.
The United States has blocked life-saving first responders from landing, including Haitian doctors and nurses and other rescue teams. It is exploiting this disaster to direct Haiti’s priorities and impose its own agenda.
Right now you need U.S. government clearance to land in Haiti. This is not independence. This is not self-rule.
Haitians are heartbroken and in unspeakable pain. But we are not idiots or under so much duress as to not object to the United States, Canada and France speeding up their proxy U.N. occupation plans for taking Haitian lands and divvying up Haiti’s oil, gold, iridium and other mineral resources behind the veil of this emergency relief. The earthquake’s depopulation of the coastal areas of Port au Prince may make that acquisition all the easier.
Haiti needs 12,000 doctors, Obama sent 12,000 troops to help us to death.
Haiti is not in conflict or at war with anyone. Haitians are not a violent people. In fact, there's more violence in Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, even in the United States than there is in Haiti. The violence rate in the United States is 5.7 per 100,000. The violence rate in Haiti is 5.6 per 100,000. Those are the facts.
And as much as the U.S media and the Pentagon wanted footage of U.S. soldiers rescuing Haitians, the people that could get saved got saved mostly by Haitians frantically using their bare hands to dig through the rubble and lift pulverized concrete in the immediate 48 hours after the earthquake. They did what they could to save themselves, as they have been doing since 1503 when the white settlers' "New World" began.
Go home, U.S. troops. Please. While 70,000 unidentified Haitians lie buried in mass graves and the count may top 200,000 killed, the people who could have been saved under the rubble and metal have mostly died. Now it's about medical relief, healing and rebuilding. Haitians can do that by themselves with the help of the world that wants to send monies to Haiti for the earthquake victims. We don’t need the Pentagon.
Let the 4 million Haitians in the diaspora take care of their own in solidarity with individuals of goodwill, from all the races and nations, who will work directly with the Haitian government and us, the people of Haiti.
Our time for change has come. Let’s work together to help the earthquake victims but with dignity and human rights and without the pain and menace of pointing military guns in shattered faces, weary souls.
There’s an old Haitian proverb: “When you’re playing with a wolf, you must expect to be scratched in the face.”
We’ve been scratched too often. Our wounds are too raw right now. We can’t play anymore with your wolves in sheep's clothing.
Ezili Danto is an award-winning playwright, performance poet and human rights attorney. She is the founder of the Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network. The Progressive Media Project is distributing this commentary.
If people do not get clean water, there could be epidemics of water-borne diseases that could greatly increase the death toll. But the US is now sending 10,000 troops and seems to be prioritising "security" over much more urgent, life-and-death needs. This in addition to the increase of 3,500 UN troops scheduled to arrive.
On Sunday morning the world-renowned humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders complained that a plane carrying its portable hospital unit was re-routed by the US military through the Dominican Republic. This would cost a crucial 48 hours and an unknown number of lives.
On Sunday, Jarry Emmanuel, air logistics officer for the UN's World Food Programme, said: "There are 200 flights going in and out every day, which is an incredible amount for a country like Haiti ... But most flights are for the US military."
Yet Lieutenant General PK Keen, deputy commander of the US Southern Command, reports that there is less violence in Haiti now than there was before the earthquake hit. Dr Evan Lyon, of Partners in Health, a medical aid group famous for its heroic efforts in Haiti, referred to "misinformation and rumours … and racism" concerning security issues.
We've been circulating throughout the city until 2:00 and 3:00 in the morning every night, evacuating patients, moving materials. There's no UN guards. There's no US military presence. There's no Haitian police presence. And there's also no violence. There is no insecurity.To understand the US government's obsession with "security concerns," we must look at the recent history of Washington's involvement there.
Long before the earthquake, Haiti's plight has been comparable to that of many homeless people on city streets in the US: too poor and too black to have the same effective constitutional and legal rights as other citizens. In 2002, when a US-backed military coup temporarily toppled the elected government of Venezuela, most governments in the hemisphere responded quickly and helped force the return of democratic rule. But two years later, when Haiti's democratically elected president Jean-Bertrand Aristide was kidnapped by the US and flown to exile in Africa, the response was muted.
Unlike the two centuries of looting and pillage of Haiti since its founding by a slave revolt in 1804, the brutal occupation by US marines from 1915 to 1934, the countless atrocities under dictatorships aided and abetted by Washington, the 2004 coup cannot be dismissed as "ancient history." It was just six years ago, and it is directly relevant to what is happening there now.
The US, together with Canada and France, conspired openly for four years to topple Haiti's elected government, cutting off almost all international aid in order to destroy the economy and make the country ungovernable. They succeeded. For those who wonder why there are no Haitian government institutions to help with the earthquake relief efforts, this is a big reason. Or why there are 3 million people crowded into the area where the earthquake hit. US policy over the years also helped destroy Haitian agriculture, for example, by forcing the import of subsidised US rice and wiping out thousands of Haitian rice farmers.
Aristide, the country's first democratically elected president, was overthrown after just seven months in 1991, by military officers and death squads later discovered to be in the pay of the CIA. Now Aristide wants to return to his country, something that the majority of Haitians have demanded since his overthrow. But the US does not want him there. And the René Préval government, which is completely beholden to Washington, has decided that Aristide's party – the largest in Haiti – will not be allowed to compete in the next elections (originally scheduled for next month).
Washington's fear of democracy in Haiti may explain why the US is now sending 10,000 troops and prioritising "security" over other needs.
This military occupation by US troops will raise other concerns in the hemisphere, depending on how long they stay – just as the recent expansion of the US military presence in Colombia has been met with considerable discontent and distrust in the region. And non-governmental organisations have raised other issues about the proposed reconstruction: understandably they want Haiti's remaining debt cancelled, and grants rather than loans (the IMF has proposed a $100m dollar loan). Reconstruction needs will be in the billions of dollars: will Washington encourage the establishment of a functioning government? Or will it prevent that, channelling aid through NGOs and taking over various functions itself, because it of its long-standing opposition to Haitian self-rule?
But most urgently, there is a need for rapid delivery of water. The US air force has the capability to deliver enough water for everyone who needs it in Haiti, until ground supply chains can be established. The more water is available, the less likely there is to be fighting or rioting over this scarce resource. Food and medical supplies could also be supplied through air drops. These operations should be ramped up, immediately. There is no time to lose.
Haitians need Emergency Relief, not Military Occupation
By Ezili Danto, January 19, 2010
Soldiers are trained to kill, not provide humanitarian relief. And the U.S. military is about domination and conquest, as Haitians know too well.
We lived through a brutal U.S. military occupation from 1915 to 1934. We endured the U.S.-supported Duvalier dictatorships that followed. We saw the hands of the U.S. government in the regime changes of 1991 and 2004 that forced President Aristide from office.
The strong-arm tactics of the U.S. are on display again. Soldiers took over the airport the day after they arrived, over the objections of the Haitians working in the damaged control tower, who were pushed aside like trash.
The U.S. military is using the airport for important things, don’t you see? Those buried under the rubble — more than 300,000 homeless Haitians who have not eaten or found clean water to drink when the mountains crumbled on them — can wait.
First, the Americans, Canadians, and Europeans who have been stuck in Haiti for two interminable days must be rescued immediately. Haitians, with nowhere to go, can wait.
The United States has blocked life-saving first responders from landing, including Haitian doctors and nurses and other rescue teams. It is exploiting this disaster to direct Haiti’s priorities and impose its own agenda.
Right now you need U.S. government clearance to land in Haiti. This is not independence. This is not self-rule.
Haitians are heartbroken and in unspeakable pain. But we are not idiots or under so much duress as to not object to the United States, Canada and France speeding up their proxy U.N. occupation plans for taking Haitian lands and divvying up Haiti’s oil, gold, iridium and other mineral resources behind the veil of this emergency relief. The earthquake’s depopulation of the coastal areas of Port au Prince may make that acquisition all the easier.
Haiti needs 12,000 doctors, Obama sent 12,000 troops to help us to death.
Haiti is not in conflict or at war with anyone. Haitians are not a violent people. In fact, there's more violence in Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, even in the United States than there is in Haiti. The violence rate in the United States is 5.7 per 100,000. The violence rate in Haiti is 5.6 per 100,000. Those are the facts.
And as much as the U.S media and the Pentagon wanted footage of U.S. soldiers rescuing Haitians, the people that could get saved got saved mostly by Haitians frantically using their bare hands to dig through the rubble and lift pulverized concrete in the immediate 48 hours after the earthquake. They did what they could to save themselves, as they have been doing since 1503 when the white settlers' "New World" began.
Go home, U.S. troops. Please. While 70,000 unidentified Haitians lie buried in mass graves and the count may top 200,000 killed, the people who could have been saved under the rubble and metal have mostly died. Now it's about medical relief, healing and rebuilding. Haitians can do that by themselves with the help of the world that wants to send monies to Haiti for the earthquake victims. We don’t need the Pentagon.
Let the 4 million Haitians in the diaspora take care of their own in solidarity with individuals of goodwill, from all the races and nations, who will work directly with the Haitian government and us, the people of Haiti.
Our time for change has come. Let’s work together to help the earthquake victims but with dignity and human rights and without the pain and menace of pointing military guns in shattered faces, weary souls.
There’s an old Haitian proverb: “When you’re playing with a wolf, you must expect to be scratched in the face.”
We’ve been scratched too often. Our wounds are too raw right now. We can’t play anymore with your wolves in sheep's clothing.
Ezili Danto is an award-winning playwright, performance poet and human rights attorney. She is the founder of the Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network. The Progressive Media Project is distributing this commentary.
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