WikiLeaked Cables Reveal: U.S. Worried about International Criticism of Post-Quake Troop Deployment

[EFerrari]

Even before the Haitian government authorized it, Washington began deploying 22,000 troops to Haiti after the Jan. 12, 2010 earthquake, despite U.S. Embassy officials saying there was no serious security problem, according to secret U.S. diplomatic cables provided to Haïti Liberté by the media organization WikiLeaks.

Washington’s decision to send thousands of troops in response to the 7.0 earthquake that rocked the Haitian capital and surrounding areas drew sharp criticism from aid workers and government officials around the world. They criticized the militarized response to Haiti’s humanitarian crisis as inappropriate and counterproductive, claiming Haiti needed “gauze not guns.” French Cooperation Minister Alain Joyandet famously said that international aid efforts should be “about helping Haiti, not about occupying Haiti.”

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez also decried “Marines armed as if they were going to war,” in his weekly television address. “There is not a shortage of guns there, my God. Doctors, medicine, fuel, field hospitals, that is what the United States should send. They are occupying Haiti in an undercover manner."

The earthquake-related cables show that Washington was very sensitive to international criticism of its response, and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton mobilized her diplomatic corps to ferret out “irresponsible journalism” worldwide and “take action” to “get the narrative right.”

http://www.haiti-liberte.com/archives/volume4-48/U.S.%20Worried%20about%20International.asp#.TfjnhwxKw-Y;twitter

[guruoo]

1. Photo account of the Marine "occupation" of Haiti...

A local Haitian woman carries a bag of humanitarian aid rations during a humanitarian aid distribution in
Carrefour, Haiti, Feb. 12, 2010. Marines of Battalion Landing Team, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment,
22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, provided security for a local non-government organization as they supplied
local Haitians with 50 pound bags of rice.



A Haitian boy watched as Navy Seabees assigned to Amphibious Construction Battalion 2
offload pallets of Meals, Ready-to-Eat from Landing Craft Utility 1663 in Bonel, Haiti, Jan. 26.


Marines assigned to the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, embarked aboard the multipurpose amphibious
assault ship USS Bataan (LHD 5), unload bottled water from a CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter to
distribute to the local Haitian population.


A Marine with Battalion Landing Team 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, hands humanitarian rations
at an aid distribution site near a landing zone in Leogane, Haiti, Jan. 26. Marine flew into the area
Jan 24 to establish a humanitarian aid receiving area for Haitian earthquake victims at a missionary compound.

[EFerrari]

2. Doctor: Misinformation and Racism Have Frozen Recovery Effort at General Hospital in Port-au-Prince

"There are no security issues," says Dr. Evan Lyon of Partners in Health, reporting from the General Hospital in Port-Au-Prince in Haiti, where 1,000 people are in need of operations. Lyon said the reports of violence in the city have been overblown by the media and have affected the delivery of aid and medical services.

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/1/19/doctor_misinformation_and_racism_have_frozen


Security "Red Zones" in Haiti Preventing Large Aid Groups from Effectively Distributing Aid

As thousands of well-equipped US soldiers pour into Haiti, there is an increasing concern about the militarization of the country, supporting the soldiers and not the people. Or, as one doctor put it, "people need gauze, not guns." We take a look at aid distribution in Haiti and the effect on Haitians fighting to survive in the aftermath of the earthquake.

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/1/22/security_red_zones_in_haiti_preventing

Report: US Military Spending in Haiti More Than Triples Assistance to Haitian Gov’t

The Haitian government is appealing to the international community to improve the earthquake relief effort as the confirmed death toll is now near 170,000. On Wednesday, Haitian President René Préval said he is thankful for the international assistance, but said it needs "better coordination." Préval’s comments come as the Associated Press reports his government is receiving less than a penny for each dollar the United States spends on aid efforts in Haiti. Thirty-three cents of every dollar goes to US military aid, over three times the nine cents spent on food.

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/1/28/headlines#3

Bill Quigley: "Disgraceful" Suspension of Medical Evacuations Captures US Indifference to Magnitude of Haitian Suffering

The US military has resumed medical evacuation flights of critically injured Haitian earthquake victims to Florida after suspending the flights for five days. The flights were halted in a cost dispute between Florida and the federal government. Just back from Haiti, Bill Quigley of the Center for Constitutional Rights says, "It’s unbelievable that couldn’t figure out a way to take these most critically ill, but still savable, people in."

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/2/2/haiti