US denies 'Haiti occupation'

[CHIMO]

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

The US is prepared to "augment" UN and Haitian government forces if they need help with security, but has denied its military has taken charge of the earthquake-devastated Caribbean nation.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, PJ Crowley, a spokesman for the US state department, rejected suggestions said that US military needs were taking priority over the needs of quake survivors.

The democratically-elected government of Haiti is in charge," he said.

"This is an international effort, the US is not in charge here, the government of Haiti is in charge, the UN is in charge - we're supporting them."



Read more: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/01/201011853210304808.html

[stray cat]

1. And now it starts - people say the US is not doing enough and others call it an occupation

[Cha]

2. There will always be

barkers.

[CHIMO]

3. Someone

Needs to take control and organise things.

[bdamomma]

17. that is the whole problem Haiti's leadership is absent.

[sandnsea]

4. Aljazeera?

I think a person would have to be pretty desperate for an attack to go to Aljazeera to get it. I've got so much information on what the US is doing that my head can't even sort it all. It's mind boggling. 600 landings and take-offs from Wednesday night to Saturday night. On one airstrip. One. They brought fuel tankers in to help planes stay in the air longer because they're stacked up on top of each other. They let military planes land because they're better equipped to unload quickly - with pallets of aid supplies. And then to have to put up with this kind of attack? No wonder the military sticks with Republicans.

[No Elephants]

12. Chavez made the attack. Al Jazeera gave the US another platform to respond to it.

[marshall]

22. Why doesn't Chavez get his ass in there and help out?

Where would Haiti be today if the US hadn't stepped in?

[ShortnFiery]

20. Just because the powers that be in the USA doesn't like Al Jazeera doesn't make ...

it a poor news source.

The ruling class of the USA despises Al Jazeera because, often times, not unlike "Democracy Now" they will DARE speak "truth to power." That's wholly unacceptable for the M$M of any nation, i.e., all governments LIE to their people.

[BeFree]

5. Say what?

Never was there a question that the US wouldn't do enough.
But there was a question as to whether the bureaucrats had a real sense of how quickly they were going to get the basics covered. And they heard us, I believe.

All in all a good sign. Showed people cared and showed the government listened.

Nobody got hurt, but possibly the quicker action saved a few more.

All in all, no damage done, and everybody is on the same page.

Now. What is needed is the exit strategy. No, not right now, but in a month or two there needs to be a plan for when we bring the marines out.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

9. There are not all that many combatants there

Most of the troops there are logistics, transportation, etc. When the basic infrastructure is fixed, they should pull out.

We did send the ready battalion and have diverted some Navy ships. We did not send the 1st Armored Division...

[The abyss]

6. Let us not forget the 2000 plus gunslingers we are sending in

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8466698.stm

May the gods bless them.

[Prometheus Bound]

8. US General: "currently less violence in Port-au-Prince than there had been before the earthquake"

interesting

[ProgressiveProfessor]

10. Gunslingerts with bulldozers?

Technically every Marine is a rifleman first...but that loadout says something about the mission.

[demosincebirth]

14. they don't have loaded weapons. They are there to help distribution of aid. nt

[ProgressiveProfessor]

16. Ahhh, I would not be so sure about that...

Every Marine will have his/her personal weapons and ammo. However, they may not be carrying them at all times and outside of those on security duty, they may not be loaded. Marines do not deploy unarmed.

All that said, with bulldozers aboard, I would not look for an amphibious assault...

[kestrel91316]

7. If they don't like our presence then maybe we could just come right home.

Sheesh.

[bemildred]

11. Gaza collects Haiti aid, says it was similarly shaken by Israel

---

Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of Haitians were still struggling on Monday to find food and shelter in the wake of last week's earthquake, as international aid agencies reported a severe lack in supplies despite the overwhelming demand.

---

"We don't need military aid. What we need is food and shelter," one young man yelled at UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon during his visit to the city Sunday. "We are dying," a woman told him, explaining she and her five children didn't have any food.

Haitian riot police meanwhile fired tear gas to disperse crowds of looters in the city's downtown as several nearby shops burned. Police stopped reporters from heading into the center of Port-au- Prince around LaVille, near the presidential palace, because of shooting and riots.

"They are shooting everybody, journalists, policemen. There are the bad guys," said one Haitian police officer said.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1143436.html

[Ex Lurker]

13. What in the world does Haiti have that would be worth occupying it for? n/t

[sabrina 1]

15. The U.S. has occupied Haiti twice in the last century

Haiti has plenty that is of interest to the U.S. We have been involved in Haiti's affairs for more than a century.

It is partially because of that interference, sometimes occupation, sometimes supporting Haiti's most brutal dictators, or backing two coups against their first democratically elected president, that has kept the country in a state of poverty and turmoil.

The Global Capitalists are very interested in cheap, slave labor for one thing. U.S. Sugar companies were invested in the area and made a fortune using Haitian labor who worked like slaves for not even enough money to feed themselves.

The country has been forcibly kept down, eg, when Aristedes wanted to raise the minimum wage the Capitalists were so angry, they let him know who was the boss there.

[Robb]

19. Bit of a gloss job there on Aristide.

His image has been rose-colored just a tad since his exile, IMO.

[Wilms]

21. Thanks for your opinion.

Got any links, perhaps. :shrug:

[sabrina 1]

23. Not really, I believe his ideas of, eg, paying Haitians a livable

wage and developing a good educational system in the country, as there had been a huge brain drain under the Duvaliers Dictatorships, was a threat to those who profited from an impoverished, slave-labor workforce.

Airc, he did agree to a smaller raise in the minimum wage. But taking over a country that had been mired in corruption and violence from years of dictatorship, proved to be far more difficult than he might have thought at first. The Globalists weren't going anywhere, and the U.S. has a tendency to prefer dictators in that region of the world so don't give much support to democratically elected leaders. He was also dealing with the constant threat of violence from the notorious thugs that made up the forces of the Duvaliers. His life was constantly in danger. Iow, anyone who had stepped into that role at that time, and even now, was not going to have an easy time.

I think he found out pretty quickly, he's not a stupid man, that lifting Haitians up was not a popular idea with those who pulled the strings and had being doing so for a long time.

[ShamelessHussy]

24. likewise

he was removed from power forcibly via a Coup d'Etat supported by the U.S. Gov. and then President Jean Bertrand Aristide was kidnaped and deported by US Forces to be more precise.

Why the US Owes Haiti Billions – The Briefest History

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/01/17-6

[bdamomma]

18. Haiti past misery

for your information.

http://www.travelinghaiti.com/history.asp

[piedmont]

25. From the State Dept. conference call (re: flight priority)

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2010/01/135308.htm

QUESTION: ...Admiral Rogers, I guess this question is probably best aimed at you, although I guess (inaudible) is not really your expertise area, but I'll give it a shot anyway. And I know this question has been raised before, but we keep getting repeated reports of complaints from both other foreign governments -- the French, the Italians, and the Brazilians -- as well as some NGOs that the U.S. military continues to prioritize the issue of security and security forces -- getting into the airport -- over the flights of humanitarian aid. And can you just address that, because I know we addressed it yesterday, but our folks who were at the U.N. are saying that this is still a complaint of both foreign governments and NGOs.

ADMIRAL ROGERS: Peter, I apologize. I'm not trying to duck you, but I'm not the best person to answer that one for you.

CAPTAIN KIRBY: Peter, let me -- this is John Kirby. Let me try to just put this in context for you. I mean, there are literally hundreds of flights today trying to get in here. There is one tarmac, one runway, one ramp for all the aircraft. And we're working very closely with the Haitian government to manage their air space, and it is their airspace. We are managing on our own -- the Joint Task Force, that is -- the actual ground operations for the field: placing the aircraft, parking them, and getting them to taxi both in and out. But it is Haitian airspace, and we're simply helping them run it more efficiently.

It is a sheer volume issue. And there are more planes that want to land here than we can accommodate in any given hour. So each aircraft is given a slot time, and that time includes time to land. They have two hours to park, unload, and then taxi and take off. And if anything disrupts that pattern -- if an aircraft, for instance, takes longer than the two hours that they're on the deck -- or longer than they're supposed to be on deck to get off again, it backs up the system. And so inevitably there are going to be some aircraft diverted or delayed.

But it's much more efficient than it was even just one day ago. In fact, yesterday only three aircraft were turned away. As for who is being turned away, those are decisions by the Haitian government and the air traffic controllers that they have. And there's imperfect knowledge when a plane comes in as to who it is and what's on it, and there's a great understanding that all are important, but there has to be a rack and stack done, and there are some difficult decisions that have to be made. But I will tell you that it's much more efficient than it was, and it truly is really about crowding. I think Vice President Biden put it very well the other day -- that it's like pushing a bowling ball through a straw. And that's just the physical challenge that we have right now.

QUESTION: Can you address the issue of what flights get priority? I mean, you don't have visibility on what's on every plane, but these allegations from these groups that U.S. military is getting their priorities before the aid, is that -- I mean, can you talk about how these are prioritized?

CAPTAIN KIRBY: Well, they are prioritized based on -- sometimes based on the fuel loads of the aircraft, in terms of when they need to get down. But I mean, we are trying very hard to make an even split between the flow of military flights and civilian flights. And it's roughly 50 percent for each. And we try very hard to balance that out.

I mean, we have had some non-essential military flights delayed, diverted, or simply had to go to another site and wait for a couple of days before they could get in. So it's -- we try to balance it the best we can, do understand the concerns and the frustrations, but we're working the best we can to make it more efficient.

[ShamelessHussy]

26. WE COME IN PEACE!

[David__77]

27. No more propping up Duvaliers. No more coups against Aristides.

The US keeps interfering in Haiti's internal affairs. The coup against Aristide was made in the USA, and has still not been righted. The Haitian people can surely build a new country when they break free from external subversion.

[insaniaveritas]

28. no benefit.

The US would absolutly nothing gain out of this. There is no oil in haiti.

[The abyss]

29. Remember the old tune “Johnny was a gun man”?

Jamaician ports of yesterday.