All You Need to Know About US Policy Towards Haiti and How This Translates to Critical Effects from Earthquake

Guns and poor Haitians

 

Democracy Now this morning had a segment that dealt with the impact of US policy on Haiti and how that translates directly into the severity of the aftermath of the earthquake.  The segment features two people who I consider experts on the Haiti-US dynamic:  Bill Quigley, legal director for the Center for Constitutional Rights (also a legal advocate for the victims of Katrina) and Brian Concannon who is the Director of the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti. Click here to go to the video.

AND, a few more things.  Colin Powell was interviewed by CNN’s Wolf Blitzer this afternoon.  They had a wide ranging conversation and, in response to a question about the involvement of the Haitian government in recovery efforts, Powell pursed his lips and said, “that’s the thing with Haiti, you have to fix and then place a government so it will do these types of things.”  I guess  Powell knows quite a bit about “fixing” and “placing” governments in Haiti.  In 2004, after extensive destabilization of the country, it was Colin Powell who called former congressman, Ron Dellums, and told him to call President Aristide to let him know that the “rebels” were close to Port-au-Prince (not true), that they were coming to kill him and that the US would do nothing to save him.  I guess he “fixed” that!

Finally, CNN just reported that the US will have 3,000 troops on the ground in Haiti by Sunday.

Stay tuned!