On Haiti:
This is enough, United States.
Get out.
Provide CIVILIAN aid if you wish, provide it privately, if you wish. Provide some limited federal aid in terms of food, water, medicine, other provisions, construction material, if you wish. Then stop.
France has accused the US of “occupying” the country and, with “thousands” of our troops on the ground, I concur. It is estimated there will be 10,000 US troops in Haiti by Wednesday. Our soldiers do not belong there, not with this current administration in charge, not with the current mindset extant. US troops are already told “to be discreet” about how they physically hold their M4 rifles. They are told they may use deadly force if they see lives in danger, but only as a “last resort.”
Let ONE incident occur with one US soldier in Haiti and we will be roundly excoriated not only globally but domestically as well, with every likelihood the involved soldier will face criminal punishment encouraged by the Obama DOJ.
The US plans to bring Haitian children into the country. This begs several questions: homeless only? How can you tell they’re homeless? What if the parents exist and wish to be with their children? How can you confirm which parents belong to which children? And won’t there be adults who will claim children in order to enter the US?
It doesn’t stop there. Now there’s been a 5.8 magnitude quake off the Cayman Islands. If another strikes or there is devastation, do we deploy our military as well?
Get out, US. This is enough.
BZ
Well, Obama want’s to close gitmo, release them all to Haiti…win win
Perfect! Nuff said.
BZ
I’m with you BZ, we cannot police the world. Rest assured our efforts there will be rewarded with a slap in the face by the rest of the world.
I agree it’s a mess…
HOWEVER, it’s the greatest thing to see Americans rushing to the aid of those who need it most. I think that is one thing that seperates us from any other country in the world.
Do the countries who hate us care that we help?
Nope.
Do the radical islamic terrorists care that we help?
Nope.
Will it all work out in our favor? Nope. As you say, we are risking much, including our boys and girls in uniform.
But, in the end we’re doing the right thing.
I am proud to see the number of Americans going there, but I’m tired of the 24/7 coverage of it. It’s information overload.
Importing Haitians? just in time for 2010.
How do you think ACORN will tell them to vote?
Ron: I concur.
Clint: but there’s more; yes, I don’t disagree those people need help. But they don’t need — NOW — ELEVEN THOUSAND American soldiers on the ground. Let’s back off the number of soldiers and offer command and control to UN forces. If we wish to offer, say, 500 to 1K troops to supplement the UN presence, so be it. Let our good intentions be felt by private donations, materials, donations and the like.
Shoprat: precisely. If people wish to donate time, money, their very own selves to help the Haitians, wonderful!
Toaster 802: thanks for taking the time to visit, and thanks for commenting! Unfortunately much of what we do is knee-jerk and predicated upon emotions with little thought for the future and “unforeseen consequences.”
I say again: enough. Turn control over to the UN Peacekeepers, the likes of which SHOULD be comprised of NUMEROUS other nations.
BZ
很耐斯的部落格，留言支持你繼續加油..................................................
Agree!
The United States cannot “save” the world. Nor should we. Doing so fosters dependence and a welfare-state mentality.
Clint and Shoprat- Agree with both of you 100%
AOW-Jam your stupid Republican ideology in the same blowhole that your head is now inserted in.
I’m reading many article questioning whether the U.S. is “doing enough” for Haiti as well as calls for forgiving the enormous debts the country has carried for decades. Here’s something to think about:
Haiti was forgiven of 1.2 billion dollars in debt by both the World Bank and the IMF in 2009. The Inter-American Development Bank had already forgiven Haiti of all of it’s outstanding debt by 2004, and has only issued grants to them since that time. Their current (miniscule) debt of 450 million dollars came as a result of loans that the country took out in 2005 and 2006. Haiti has yearly debt services payments of only 10 million bucks, and ALL of that is covered by resources from a U.S. supported fund. In other words, Haiti has NO debt.
ALL aid to Haiti should be generous, but ONLY in terms of food, supplies, and manpower in dealing with the current crisis. NOT ONE DOLLAR IN CASH should be issued, because it will almost certainly be stolen or misappropriated by this nation’s corrupt and totally inept government. The help being given is in response to a serious emergency and is a moral imperative. But no matter what you read or hear, we are not responsible for Haiti’s or any country’s economy.