BN continued in its report, "The military component of the US mission, however, tends to overshadow the civilian functions of rescuing a desperate and impoverished population. The overall humanitarian operation is not being led by civilian governmental agencies such as FEMA or USAID, but by the Pentagon. The dominant decision making role has been entrusted to US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM). A massive deployment of military hardware personnel is contemplated. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen has confirmed that the US will be sending nine to ten thousand troops to Haiti, including 2000 marines. (American Forces Press Service, January 14, 2010)"
Already, the SS Carl Vinsons was off the harbor on the 15th of January. Immediately, the focus for the DOD should have been on saving lives (1) not on building a tent city to-be-mistaken-for-a-Green-Zone at the single major airport and (2) not spreading rumors of riots when people are still helping each other dig themselves out.
GERMAN NEWS IS JUST CATCHING ON
Only this evening--7 days after the earthquake shook the Caribbean and destroyed Haiti's infrastructure--did I hear my first report in German Radio News on the U.S. militarization of relief efforts in Haiti. In the radio report on HR1 (Hessen Radio One) there was only barely a hint of skepticism at what the USA is up to in Haiti.
Danny Glover on Democracy Now today asked the right question: Why were George W. Bush (a war criminal) and Bill Clinton put in charge of the U.S. effort? More importantly, why wasn't Jimmy Carter brought in at all by Obama?
Hugo Chavez, President of Venezuela advised the US to avoid the militarization approach: "Mr. Obama, send field hospitals instead of so many soldiers, so that there are fewer soldiers with machine guns and rifles, and a generous amount of doctors and nurses and medical equipment."
On January 17th , Anzel Herz of MediaHacker reported something that has since been heard again-and-again in rural Haiti by Amy Goodman:
"More tents have been erected in the roads where Haitians gathered, away from crumbling structures. In the public squares across from the collapsed national palace yesterday, a young couple told me that the yellow tent overhead was given to them by a wealthy Haitian. That area, called Chanmas, strikes me as an ideal place to distribute aid to the thousands of people sitting and sharing food and shelter in orderly fashion. But people said no aid groups had stopped by to give them anything the whole day. Two US Navy helicopters flew overhead in opposite directions while we talked. Earlier in the day, I saw hundreds of American soldiers walking back and forth inside the airport. Dozens of Haitian men organized a digging and rescue operation on a pile of rubble in the suburb Santo. A huge orange Caterpillar bulldozer sat nearby, stationary. Heavy equipment from the Haitian construction company CNE is all over the city."
In short, I am not happy to hear that the majority of areas in Haiti are not receiving help one week after the earthquake.
UNAIDED EVERYWHERE BUT HAITIANS KEEP STRIVING
Amy Goodman ended her report by noting:
"They [the rural Haitians] are getting almost no help. We went from one family to another, and they said, continually, their lives are in the hands of God. The UN itself made the statement about security. And we wanted to know what was it they were referring to. We walk freely from one place to another. The people desperate, but certainly peaceful."
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