Posted on 01/18/2010 3:11:24 AM PST by Scanian
*Gangs set up roadblocks in capital * Desperate looters stealing supplies
The bullets whizzing over our heads are all the proof we need that things are starting to get ugly here.
Desperation has gripped Port-au-Prince. Gangs are now in control of some parts, setting up roadblocks and seizing the scant amount of food or supplies that cross their paths.
Post photographer Bill Farrington and I saw this anarchy firsthand as we drove through a particularly lawless part of town at around dusk.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Except for a few crumbled buildings, it’s back to business as usual in Haiti.
Hell of a mess, isn’t it?
While I am absolutely opposed to foreign aid in general ( money into dictator’s pockets, in my opinion, good for nothing ) humanitarian aid in a crisis like this is another matter. It is a right thing to try to help.
That said, what on Earth can we do to fix Haiti’s seemingly incurable lameness- how many billions have we dumped on it, to no effect?
The only time I can recall it being a functional country was when our Marines occupied it and enforced the law.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_occupation_of_Haiti
( Yeah, I know it’s Wiki, but it jibes with what I recall from High School... )
And isn’t it rediculous that the press still thinks they are isolated from the reality that they feel it is their duty to bring to the rest of the world? The story is now more important than the sake of the people. But then again, it is far more important for the pols to be seen there and yapping about while the releif supplies are backlogged all over the airport grounds.
Saw a report last nigh about a helicopter crew that attemted to bring food and water to an area. The chopper was mobbed and they had to fly away with the supplies thinking of their safety and those who were mobbing their chopper. So what happened? Well, essentially nothing was achieved. But they still had supplies all over the airport.
Maybe some enterprising soul would have figured out to just start dropping the supplies and letting those in the area dole it out. Whether it is the local mob (virtually the entire city) or a neighborhood security group. That way at least some will have the opportunity to get some releif instead of the plan to have our guys dole it out as the press did their job to historicly capture the grandess of the great benefactor.
Just think of the possibility in the event the local thugs had all of the supplies and water hoarding it for themselves. Eventually the masses would rise against them instead of us. Two birds, one stone.
I hate to say this, and I can’t find a way to phrase it delicately—but I think there are some countries and populations that are simply incapable of effective self-governance without generations of concerted “imperialist” effort by Western (or at least First World) nations. It’s not a racial thing—there are places around the world of all racial groups that fit into this category, and there are countries of all racial groups that are completely dysfunctional.
Haiti is a country that is begging to be somebody’s colony for about forty years, and *maybe* then it can be turned around. Maybe.
}:-)4
What Haiti needs most is good leadership, let’s send them Obama, Pelosi, Reid, etc. With the provisio that they keep them.
Haiti is a country that is begging to be somebody’s colony for about forty years, and *maybe* then it can be turned around. Maybe.
And therein lies the problem. A nation that would turn Haiti into a colony would have to be able to economically exploit it in order to make it feasible...and is there anything left to economically exploit in Haiti? The forests are gone, the infrastructure (what little there was) is wrecked, the workforce is largely unskilled. And the “enlightened” of the world wouldn’t allow economic exploitation of Haiti anyway, even if the end goal was to turn it into a functioning nation-state instead of a nation of beggars. After all, Christianity, enlightened capitalism, and the rule of law aren’t inherently superior to voodoo, dependency, and machete-wielding mobs in a liberal’s mind, now are they?
}:-)4
Yeah, but once a Marine shoots a Haitian (in self defense, or in defense of someone else)...let’s see what the press has to say. It won’t be pretty.
Agreed. “You” would definitely be condemned as imperialist, racist... by the UN and other “wonderfull” organisations...
Because heaven forbid that you would be able to find a solutions that would benefit “both” parts in the long way
instead of flushing money down the toilet for UN projects
which will change nothing as usuall.
So there is no wonder that no sane country is willing to voluntary take this burden.
I know this sounds heartless but i would not help any of this failed states. There are many countries that would implode without forreign aid. I say let em.
Some will prevail and some will not make it but at least
there would be an end insight. and then you can help the countries who have shown that they have the will to survive.
One week with the Marines on the ground and the rats will scurry back into their holes.
No problem, Osoma-bomba sent my money that was stolen from me.
One sewer (welfare) is as good as another (Haiti) I guess.
My comment is this, dont they know the world is watching? npw is not the time for gang dominance.
but, but, but...Billary has been “working with Haiti for 35 years” so everything’s ok, right?
They’ve just studied up on Rahmbo’s “Never let a crisis go to waste” philosophy.
'Zactly.
This is chaos. Plain, animal, brutal chaos.
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