U.S. Aid to Haiti

We have all watched for weeks as Tropical Storm (sometimes Hurricane) Jeanne cut a swath of devastation across the Caribbean and Southeast. I have especially watched the aftermath in Haiti. Discussions have erupted in some of the Yahoo groups I'm a member of as to why we aren't doing more or should we be doing anything for Haiti. After helping to deport it's last President, we have left a vacuum that the current Prime Minister has been unable to fill with peace. U.N. Peacekeepers are seriously undermanned and the damage left by the storm have totally set things on edge. Violence is breaking out everywhere and people are sick and dying. Death estimates from the storm alone are approaching 2000 (plus another 900 listed as missing and presumed dead) and doctors are performing surgery without anesthesia or electricity. What's worse is that many of the operations are amputations because the patients are unable to keep their wounds clean because of the lack of clean water.

Last week as part of the U.S.'s response to that disaster on our doorstep, the President sends Sec. of Health and Human Services, Tommy Thompson. Thompson announces that the President is asking Congress for $50 billion in aid for the Caribbean nations affected by the storm, with about half to go to Haiti. But in the meantime, he announced a donation of $235 thousand to restock supplies at one small hospital. We are talking about 300,000 people affected by that storm - that is only enough for band-aids and antiseptic.

We need to get real. We say we're in Iraq to protect the human and civil rights of Iraqis (I'm not even going to address that crap about the connection with Al Qaida and the WMD's "cause it just ain't true"), yet we allow this bloodshed and abject poverty to exist on our doorstep. Then to add insult to injury, we allow the wet foot/dry foot policy for Cubans and pack every Haitian right back to Haiti (after an extended stay in a U.S. prison, of course).

We really have to examine our policy in the Caribbean. These people need our help and we are capable of giving it. Why aren't we doing more?

BellSouth