InvAID: The Militarisation of Aid to Haiti

This list of 140+ links—in reverse chronological order—was created in preparation for the next issue of Press for Conversion! (the magazine of Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade - COAT). The theme of that issue (#65) will be the hyper-militarisation of development assistance to Haiti.

I hope this compilation of articles serves as a useful resource for activists, researchers and others concerned about the latest military invasion of Haiti, the pretexts for that invasion and the real reasons behind it.

Continue at source:

InvAID

Some examples from those +140 links if you don't have time to follow each links:


*"You can walk down many of the streets of Port au Prince and see absolutely no evidence that the world community has helped Haiti. Twenty three days after the earthquake jolted Haiti and killed over 200,000 people, as many as a million people have still not received any international food assistance. ..."


*"Protests over the slow arrival of aid have flared in Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince.... After a tense night when shots were fired.... 'If the police fire on us, we are going to set things ablaze,' shouted one protester, raising a cement block above his head. Another 200 protesters marched to the US embassy, crying out for food and aid, while about 50 demonstrators gathered outside the police headquarters where the government of President Rene Preval is temporarily installed. 'Down with Preval' demonstrators shouted..., who has spoken to the people only a few times since the disaster. ..."


*"Agence Haitienne de Presse reports on comments by Jean Max Bellerive, Haiti??s Prime Minister [about]...the chaos caused by donor countries funneling money through thousands of NGOs who are responsible to no one.... [and] the tens of thousands of troops that have arrived in Haiti since the earthquake, bolstering the nearly 9000-strong UN force. ..."

*"One of the most vexing issues in Latin America??s relations with Haiti is the grievous lack of understanding on the part of anti-imperialist forces about the nature of the repeated imperialist occupations of the former French colony, and of the crushing of the Lavalas movement, including the ouster of the country's democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide. ..."


*At the hospital, we saw 4 US soldiers armed with M16s guarding a cart of patient's food being distributed!


*"'The coordinator of humanitarian assistance with the U.S.-run Joint Task Force-Haiti, [is] Canadian Brig. Gen. Nicolas Matern.'(AP) .... The Army Times ran..., 'Haiti aid mission uses lessons of war,' describing how 'dealing with counterinsurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan...apply here [in Haiti] to the job of distributing food and water and providing medical help.'..."


*"A former US President becomes UN Special Envoy to earthquake-stricken Haiti.... Venezuelan, Nicaraguan, Bolivian, French and Swiss rescue organizations accuse the US military of refusing landing rights to planes bearing necessary medicines and urgently needed potable water to the millions of Haitians stricken, injured and homeless. ..."


*"I have been here in Haiti for a few days now and what I find most striking, is not only the resilience of the people, but the extent of volunteerism which is evident in every single camp and in every recovery effort at building and rescue.... Whatyou do not see on TV is the thousands of milliary officers heavily armed, standing, milling around doing nothing when there is absolutely no need for this kind of millitary presence. ..."


*"More than two weeks after a deadly earthquake struck, much of the aid is still not reaching the people who need it. Al Jazeera's Monica Villamizar spent a day with an aid convoy in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, carrying one million food rations.... Though more than 100 people were involved and armed personnel accompanied the convoy, no food had been distributed by the end of the day."

*"There are now 20,000 US troops either in Haiti or offshore. Under an accord signed last week the US controls the airport and seaport and responsibility for security.... Colonel Gary Anderson, a retired Marine Corps officer and veteran of relief operations in Bangladesh and Somalia, said Haiti was a chance to project 'soft power'.... 'Wherever possible, use local security forces to secure distribution sites. The last thing you need to have on CNN is American troops clubbing desperate villagers like baby seals at a relief distribution site.' ..."


*"The mass media's portrayal of Haiti is sensationalist.... Advertising dollars flow with images of looters, destruction, and social disorder.... The other underlying reason is racism.... The idea that Haiti has people organizing themselves into orderly tent cities and that the major role of the US has been to patrol around with soldiers and guns is not one that fits the image of Haiti or of the US's role there. ..."


*"'They treat us like animals, they beat us but we are hungry people,' said Muller Bellegarde, 30.... Many...suggested Haitian churches could provide more orderly and respectful venues for distributions, with Haitian communities organizing security. 'The...way they're doing it is bad...,' Thomas Louis, 40... 'This is not aid. This is a way to put people down.'..."


*"The theft of Haiti has been swift and crude. On 22 January, the United States secured —formal approval?? from the United Nations to take over all air and sea ports in Haiti, and to —secure?? roads. No Haitian signed the agreement, which has no basis in law. ..."


and many more...

Do you all still thinking that your mass mainstream media telling you the truth..?

Did your parents ever ask you to run away from home? Did they move with no forwarding address while you were out?
TELL US THE TRUTH NOW

Posted by james tate
Did your parents ever ask you to run away from home? Did they move with no forwarding address while you were out?
TELL US THE TRUTH NOW

Hint??_ I am neither British nor American??_! Is that the truth you are looking for.?

me old mate I give you this you can stir up the shit

if you're not american, how do you know what's in the mainstream media? you don't strike me as the type to have a satellite dish or cnn. hmm...actually, you don't strike me as the type to have an indoor bathroom or running water either but hey.

you're right, bureaucracy sucks. you should give up your worldly positions, move to a place in need and make a change. i mean you could technically retire in haiti.

and why wouldn't the troops guard the food. people are hunger and desperate and do crazy things that could lead to further deaths. law and order must be maintained and yeah, it'd be great if haitians could take the responsibility but at the moment, death, injury, hungry, sadness kinda prohibits that.

it just sounds like to me you're blaiming the US for not moving fast enough or worse...for the earthquakes and aftershocks themselves. which is a novel idea b/c i heard that instead of the star wars program, reagan invested all those dollars in sophisticated earth moving equipment manufactured by john deere. it could be an earthquake machine or a bad ass lawn mower.

i transposed hunger and hungry twice. i think that's a sign that i need a biscuit or somethin

Q knows that G.W. Bush set off a nuke under haiti. You can't fool Q you evil americano's should know this by now. I think you still owe us from the Tea tax thing

we'll get right on it...after we give the native americans and mexicans their land back and black folk reparations. we still have to deal with that japanese internment camp issue and maybe we'll get around to granting puerto rico it's independence or at the very least, statehood. and if we do it for PR, we have to do it for USVI, American Samoa and Guam. and if we do it for them we gotta do it for washington dc..all of which requires amending the constitution which means some severe political implications. so right after we get that stuff taken care of, we'll invest about 1000 euros in tea bags and ship it right on over to ya!

don't bother I plan to take over the world you know the sun never sets on the British empire, I will put Q in a re ed u ma cation camp.

you shall 'ave your tea suhr!

it just sounds like to me you're blaiming the US for not moving fast enough or worse...for the earthquakes and aftershocks themselves.

I do blaming the United States for —military intervention?? in a place that is in dire need of —humanitarian?? help. We've got the United Nation forces for this kind of situations aren't we? Tell me something??_ If a major disaster hit the US would you accept foreign troopers walking around your country..?

HELL NO.. would be the answer..! So what the hell is US military doing there..?


I??ll suggest you to look deeper in this case.

if you're not american, how do you know what's in the mainstream media? you don't strike me as the type to have a satellite dish or cnn. hmm...actually, you don't strike me as the type to have an indoor bathroom or running water either but hey.

Don't be so na??ve??_.Ever been outside of US ..?

And then??_.

I??ll point my fingers to the American people for their —Democratically and legally elected administrations??.

Full of CRAP and you know it..!

You kill people other side of the planet and you think you can get away with it..?

Who do you call —terrorist?? while your —Democratically and legally elected administrations?? doing the same job for decades?

See what I mean..?

Now.. Who??s the terrorist..?

Q,

the UN is a castrated body that does little to help people in need. the cases are there...rwanda, darfur, south africa, liberia, bosnia to name a few. how long has the situation in darfur been going on? if they couldn't resolve that, how are they going to deal with something as unexpected as an earthquake?

i guess it's ok to allow suffering as long as the US isn't involved but the moment that we do become involved, the moment we try to help, people like you criticize the manner in which the aid is rendered.

if left up to the UN, there would be wholesale chaos in haiti. the military is there to maintain peace. in times of duress, people fight for survival. the military is definitely there to maintain safety and order. what's wrong with that.

i suggest you look deeper and since you enjoy reading so much, you might want to try expanding your google inquires to beyond the US. i mean, you act like we're the masters of the universe...HE-MAN!

if you're worried that the US will take over Haiti, not by a long shot. doing so would require that we grant haitians citizenship rights and if ya noticed, when they were trying to enter the country in the 80s, the government did everything in their power to prohibit entry then. so no worries. haiti will maintain its independence while the world watches as rape, murder and genocide occur throughout the world.

it's funny, the US urges that something be done in these cases and you know what our allies do? sit on their hands because ultimately, the world can't be bothered. shame on "Norway" is it? how much aid has your country or its citizens contributed to any of the a fore mentioned problems? how much have you yourself donated to the red cross or other world charities? yeah, that's what i thought.

ever been outside of the us?

yeah, often. i'm pretty fluent in french by the way.

si vous voulez parler en fran?ais, vas-y! 🙂

if left up to the UN, there would be wholesale chaos in haiti. the military is there to maintain peace.

Come on??_

How do you know that.? Do you really know what the United Nation means..? do I need to spell it for you..?

I am asking you to read about the United Nation declaration one more time and look for the meaning of the UNITED NATION..

It is all I ask..

because it's human nature genius!

you're starving and in need of water. do you ask politely or do you do everything you can to get the damn water?

the reason why we have social contracts in the first place is to maintain public peace and order.

NEWSFLASH! the system in haiti is currently crippled. there is no state thus there is no order.

does that mean there will be robbing, looting, rape and murder...no. but why risk it? a state of emergency is in effect and the us is there to aid in that effort.

now answer my question, how much have you personally contributed in your entire adulthood to worldwide charities?

dude, you are an idiot.

google rwanda UN
darfur UN
bosnia UN

you want to educate others...educate yourself first.

click image to enlarge

these stats don't include private or religions contributions to global aid initiatives. and you know how americans like to preach their gospel and convert heathens.

now answer my question, how much have you personally contributed in your entire adulthood to worldwide charities?


Are you looking for the personal information about me? What I??ve done —as sort of contribution to the humanity in any case?? is my own damn business and even if I am telling you about it you are not going to believe it anyway.

Why would I wasting my time to answering this silly question..?

BIG FAT ZERO!

thanks for proving that you're a hypocritical, self-righteous, judgmental and angry lil man

dude, you are an idiot.

google rwanda UN
darfur UN
bosnia UN

you want to educate others...educate yourself first.

Dude.. You are a triple idiot??_ again??_.. Do you really know what the United Nation means..?

Without the usual —American veto?? crap?

BIG FAT ZERO!

thanks for proving that you're a hypocritical, self-righteous, judgmental and angry lil man

See a typical American smoke screen??_ as usual —nothing more nothing less??

Would it be OK for you if I boasted about $ 50,000 contribution to the Haiti disaster..?


LAMO

Q, why don't you tell me so i can give you a moment to spit more verbal diarrhea. i already know where you're going with this dude. i'm five steps ahead of you but since i'm a "triple idiot", i TRIPLE DOG DARE you to wiggle your way out of your public display of stupidity.

you know, if took all this time and energy you've taken into finding about why the US is the anti-christ into mobilizing your community to contribute money and aid to poor people throughout the world, you'd be worth listening to. for someone who cares so much about his fellow man, you'd think that you would include links to poverty relief efforts.

here, i'll get you started....

NOTHING BUT NETS
http://www.nothingbutnets.net/<BR>


you can buy a net.

you can set up a team/campaign at your place of work, at your child's school, at your church.

you can put a donation link your myspace or facebook

for $ 10 you could literally save a life

--

now, doesn't that sound much better than a psychotic tirade? i really can't stand fake activists. people like you are sickening.

Listen??_

I—ll put my money on —doctors without borders?? to support the HUMAN IN NEED OF THE MEDICAL ATTENTIONS?? no matter where.

Look for the GAZA war and right now in Haiti.. You??ll see what I mean..

When you are ready for —DEBATE?? wake me up..!

Sorry??_ I wont waste my time on you anymore..!

Good nite..!

do you read?

i said instead of getting here spouting useless garbage, mobilize people by getting them to contribute to humanitarian efforts that you support that YOU find worthwhile.

i mean, imagine how much time you spend on this site. i wonder how much money you could've raised for children in [insert impoverished country here] in the same time frame?

your rhetoric is worthless without action. you're an internet activist. an internet militant. and just like the internet, 90% of you isn't real.

and the fake activist pouts and heads to his comfy bed as children around the world suffer. but they are so thankful to have people like Q on the internet to spout useless garbage that contributes not a dime to their cause.

Posted by tubbyscubby
do you read?

i said instead of getting here spouting useless garbage, mobilize people by getting them to contribute to humanitarian efforts that you support that YOU find worthwhile.

i mean, imagine how much time you spend on this site. i wonder how much money you could've raised for children in [insert impoverished country here] in the same time frame?

your rhetoric is worthless without action. you're an internet activist. an internet militant. and just like the internet, 90% of you isn't real.

It is silly question??_

I am not going to tell you or anyone else for what I??ve done in the past 25 years of my life for the humanities sake. I wish I could have done MORE.

It is not a race for —championship??. Get that crap out of your head..

Typical American fucking minds..! Are we talking about a CHAMPIONSHIP RACE?? ? like who??s get there first and most..?

no dip...it's about talk vs. action.

put your effort where your mouth is.

you don't want to mobilize people. you just are hear to demean and make yourself feel better that you know how to use google.

i don't need a monetary figure from you cause i already know he answer is ZERO!

now shuffle off to bed before you get all excited and break a hip.

Again??_

If I am telling you that I paid $ 50,000 in support of Haiti disaster would you believe in me..?

plenty of countries have the $ currency. norway isn't one of them. so no...i don't believe you.

in fact, i question if you're lucid so uhm...next time pick a more realistic figure ok! but i know, you like to overdo it and that's the first thing that popped into your head.

dude, i gotta get back to work. enjoy your bottle of akvavit cause that's about the only thing that splains these threads.

Lets hear it for Tubby and Q by the way guys I gave 50 pounds the other day for a out of work sheep hearder not bad.

great...now Q is gonna start a thread about how the US is destroying the sheep industry 😛

only the welsh have the ==== to raise sheep we are celtic you know we raise sheep, welsh terriers, welsh springer spaniels, welsh corgi both cardigan and pembroke and we eat welsh rare-bit. We are what we are and fight to keep it pure

animal love is bad.



"A South Carolina man was arrested for having sex with a horse after police say the animal's owner caught him on surveillance camera. The man is already on the state's sex offender for having sex with the same horse."

so is this a relative of yours only the scotts have sex with sheep the english try but the sheep can hear the zippers. the kilts are much quiter

ever try buttons?

and yeah, that's Uncle Stallion

I don't do childern or animals so you and the sheep are safe.

Posted by james tate
I don't do childern or animals so you and the sheep are safe.

is childern the british way of saying youthful, energetic, intelligent and drop dead gorgeous? well at least you're honest about the type of women you're capable of dating.

if you're going to quote me, quote me in full. and if you have an inability to recognize sarcasm, it's not up to me to splain it to ya.

if your under 30 your to young no matter how good looking you are

i wish 😛

look twitty, i would love to engage you further but i don't find you interesting. i clearly have no problem engaging others in worthwhile debate but i don't find you or your arguments of interest. i don't argue with children and i've chosen not to go back and forth with you. now if you have something based in substance to offer, fine. but until then, enjoy the sarcasm....or the sardonics...i can never tell which is which 😛