Former President Bill Clinton arrives in Haiti - pics

[Kadie]

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton (C) helps unload a cargo plane at Port-au-Prince airport in Haiti January 18, 2010.


Former U.S. President Bill Clinton talks with local aid workers after helping unload a cargo plane at Port-au-Prince airport in Haiti January 18, 2010.


Bill Clinton, former President and U.N. special envoy for Haiti, center, visits Romulus Solyvens, a victim of Tuesday's earthquake, at the General Hospital in Port-au-Prince, Saturday, Jan. 18, 2010. Clinton promised that his foundation would provide medicine and a generator to the capital's General Hospital in order to doctors there can work through the night.

edited to add...


Bill Clinton, former President and U.N. special envoy for Haiti, right, greets a woman during a visit to the General Hospital in Port-au-Prince, Monday, Jan. 18, 2010. Clinton promised that his foundation would provide medicine and a generator to the capital's General Hospital in order to doctors there can work through the night.


Former President Bill Clinton, center, talks with a UN peacekeeper after arriving in Port-au-Prince, Haiti Monday, Jan. 18, 2010. Clinton is the U.N. special envoy for Haiti and he has joined former President George W. Bush in leading a campaign for donations to help the country. At left is Chelsea Clinton.


Rose Marie Cadet, left, sits with her injured grandson as former President Bill Clinton, rear, tours the General Hospital in Port-au-Prince, Haiti Monday, Jan. 18, 2010. Clinton, the U.N. special envoy for Haiti, visited survivors of the powerful earthquake that rocked the country last week.


-----------

UN envoy Bill Clinton arrives in Haiti
Mon Jan 18, 12:40 pm ET

PORT-AU-PRINCE (AFP) – UN special envoy to Haiti Bill Clinton arrived in Port-au-Prince Monday to deliver relief supplies and get a first-hand look at conditions in the quake crippled country.

Clinton, who is both the UN special envoy to Haiti and a coordinator with fellow former president George W. Bush of a US campaign to raise funds for Haiti, was to meet with Haitian leaders and survivors.

"As UN special envoy for Haiti, I feel a deep obligation to the Haitian people to visit the country and meet with President (Rene) Preval to ensure our response continues to be coordinated and effective," Clinton said before his departure.

The Clinton Foundation said the former president would "deliver emergency relief supplies including water, food, medical supplies, solar flash lights, portable radios, and generators."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100118/pl_afp/haitiquakeusclinton_20100118174502

[BrklynLiberal]

1. Guess he is replacing Brian Williams...lolololol

[malaise]

15. LOL

That was too good :rofl:

[intheozone]

2. So where are the pics of Bush arriving and meeting with the locals? Oh

silly me, never mind, there won't be any pics 'cause it's never gonna happen, right?

[silverweb]

5. Thank goodness!

We can't have him stumbling over earthquake debris now, can we?

His part of this deal is to stay home and raise money from his "base" -- you know, "the haves and have mores" he loves so much. He'll get to hang out and hobnob with them, then maybe crow about how raising money for Haiti was such "hard work" so he can be properly appreciated.

[DesertFlower]

7. exactly. nt

[sharesunited]

8. W expressly said on camera that he has no plans to travel there.

[bullwinkle428]

11. If Bush went down there, we can all hazard a pretty good guess

as to where that bullhorn would end up!!! :evilgrin: :evilgrin: :evilgrin:

[ribrepin]

12. Bush's @ home counting the money

Didn't you hear him? He's gonna make sure the money is spent wisely.

[demmiblue]

16. Maybe he'll do a fly-by

:shrug:

[name not needed]

21. Depends. Are there any good golf courses in Port-au-Prince?

[tallahasseedem]

28. I just love your picture!

That sign has always cracked me up! :)

[louis-t]

3. Note the absence of bush.

He'd have his blue shirt on with sleeves rolled up looking like he'd rather be ANYWHERE except Haiti. And he'd be useless.

[ChicagoSuz219]

13. Speaking of clothing...

...what's w/the vest in the heat? Maybe it's bulletproof... ??

[louis-t]

17. I wondered that myself. Gotta be 80 deg. there.

[ChicagoSuz219]

23. Maybe it's a fashion statement... n/t

[louis-t]

18. If it is bulletproof, he better zip up.

[alsame]

4. K&R. Thanks. nt

[blitzburgh55]

6. Chelsea is there too

where are the Bush twins?

[Kadie]

14. Thanks.

I found a picture with Chelsea and added it to my post.

[RadiationTherapy]

9. If I may be so inappropriate, nice pot leaf hat.

[wtmusic]

10. He didn't inhale either. nt

[Kadie]

22. .

:rofl:

[CatWoman]

19. doesn't he look good?

:loveya:

[DelPotro]

20. Clinton and Haiti

When Jean Bertrand Aristide was deposed after a few months in office, it was with the help of the CIA, USAID, and other American entities. Then ensued one of the most disgraceful episodes in the long, unsavoury history of diplomacy. Bill Clinton – elected president promising to treat the Haitian refugees as human beings – elected instead to observe the same barbarous policies as George Bush I, and when the refugees became a flood, Clinton’s answer was more illegality. He parked two massive floating slave barracoons in Kingston Harbour where refugees picked up in Jamaican waters were, with the craven connivance of the Patterson government, denied asylum, captured and processed and 22 per cent of them selected for the Guantanamo Bay concentration camp while the rest were returned to their murderers in Haiti.

Eventually, largely due to pressure from black pressure groups in the US and crucially, a fast to the death begun by Randolph Robinson, Clinton agreed to restore Aristide while General Colin Powell talked grandly of the soldier’s honour he shared with Haiti’s then murderer-in-chief, a scamp called Raoul Cedras. President Clinton made several pledges to Aristide and to Haiti, but history does not seem to record that any were kept. Had even a few been kept, Haiti may have been able to guarantee public security and to instal some desperately needed infrastructure. Instead Haitians are still scooping water to drink from potholes in the street and stave off hunger with ‘fritters’ made from earth and cooking fat.

The Haitian Army, the most corrupt and evil public institution in the western hemisphere, was abolished by Aristide, to the displeasure of the North American powers. Now that the Americans have deposed Aristide for the second time, security is in the hands of a motley mercenary army, a UN peacekeeping force. Security in Haiti is so good that three years ago, the then head of this force, a Brazilian general, was found shot to death after a friendly chat with Haitian elites. The rapes, massacres, disappearances and kidnappings continue unabated and the only popular political force, the Fanmi Lavalas, has been effectively neutered. President Clinton “will aim to attract private and government investment and aid for the poor Caribbean island nation”, according to Clinton’s office and a senior UN official. “A UN official said that Clinton would act as a ‘cheerleader’ for the economically distressed country, cajoling government and business leaders into pouring fresh money into a place that is largely dependent on foreign assistance.”

It all sounds so nice and cosy, a poor, black ‘hapless’ nation under the tutelage of the rich and civilised of the earth. I am prepared to bet that neither Haitian democracy nor Bill Clinton’s reputation will survive this appointment. Democracy is impossible without popular participation and decision making. In Haiti, democracy is impossible without Lavalas and Aristide. If Haiti itself is to survive, the UN General Assembly needs to seize this baton from the spectacularly unqualified and ignorant Security Council and its very nice and affable secretary general, even less attuned to Haitian reality than the last SG, Kofi Annan and his accomplices, Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, PJ Patterson and Patrick Manning.

http://hcvanalysis.wordpress.com/2009/05/25/haiti-bill-clinton-haitis-great-white-hope-by-john-maxwell/

[jxnmsdemguy65]

24. Why is he wearing that expensive-looking (Beretta?) hunting vest?

Isn't it in the '90s down there?

[PavePusher]

25. Politicos should never "visit" disaster areas.

They distract from the actual, you know, WORK that is going on.

Much as I dislike Bush, and for whatever reason he chose, his decision not to go is correct.

[JoeyT]

26. Agreed

They're already having trouble getting necessary personnel with training in needed fields into the area.
Shuffling everything around to bring in an ex-political figure just makes it that much more difficult to get them in.
While having ex-presidents around makes for good pictures, he ain't a doctor and has no training in disaster relief. People that need a lot less security can unload bottles of water.

[Beacool]

27. I love the guy!!

As angry as his behavior has made me at times, I would have voted for him for a third term in a heartbeat. He may be a flawed man, but so are most politicians to some degree. What I have always liked about the Clintons is that they truly care about making it a better world for others. It's not just for show with them, it's their life passion and something that has kept them connected.

It's great to also see that Chelsea has turned into one lovely and caring young woman.

;-)