Guns over basic needs
Mark Weisbrot
The US preoccupation with sending
thousands of troops to Haiti and prioritizing “security” over other more
urgent needs could cost more lives
On 19 January 2010, six days after the earthquake in Haiti, the US
Southern Command finally began to drop bottled water and food (MREs)
from an Air Force C-17. US Defense Secretary Robert Gates had previously
rejected such a method because of “security concerns.” The Guardian
reports that people are dying of thirst. And if they do not get clean
water, there can be epidemics of water-borne diseases that could greatly
increase the death toll.
Troops setting off to give aid to Haiti |
But the United States is now sending 10,000 troops and seems to be
prioritizing “security” over much more urgent, life-and-death needs.
This is in addition to the increase of 3,500 UN troops scheduled to
arrive.
On January 18 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 24 hours and an unknown number of lives.
On the same day, Jarry Emmanuel, air logistics officer for the UN’s
World Food Program, said, “There are 200 flights going in and out every
day, which is an incredible amount for a country like Haiti,” adding,
“But most flights are for the US military.” Yet Lt. General P. K. Keen,
deputy commander of the US Southern Command, reports that there is less
violence in Haiti now than there was before the earthquake hit.
Doctor 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 United States 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 United States: 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 United States and flown to
exile in South 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 1915-1934, the countless
atrocities under dictatorships aided and abetted by Washington, the 2004
coup cannot be dismissed as “ancient history.” It was just six
A Haiti survivor waiting for her meal |
years ago, and it is directly relevant to what is happening there
now.
The United States, 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 three 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 subsidized US rice and wiping out
thousands of Haitian rice farmers.
Aristide’s first democratic government was overthrown after just
seven months in 1991, by military officers and death squads later
discovered to be in the pay of the US Central Intelligence Agency.
Now, Aristide wants to return to his country, something that the
majority of Haitians have demanded since his overthrow. But the United
States does not want him there. And the Preval 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 United
States is now sending 10,000 troops and prioritizing “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.
A doctor checking out the health of one the babies rescued |
And non-governmental organizations 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 $100
million loan).
Reconstruction needs will be in the billions of dollars: Will
Washington encourage the establishment of a functioning government? Or
will it prevent that, channeling aid through NGOs and taking over
various functions itself, because 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.
The Wall Street Journal reports that according to Partners in Health,
20,000 people a day are dying because of lack of access to medical
treatment. The necessary supplies can be delivered if they are
prioritized.
- Third World Network Features
(The writer is
co-director of the Centre for Economic and Policy Research, in
Washington, DC, USA). |