The Whole Sad Story
From Slate:
"Command and control" turned out to be the key words. The U.S. military did what the U.S. military does. Like a slow-witted, fearful giant, it built a wall around itself, commandeering the Port-au-Prince airport and constructing a mini-Green Zone. As thousands of tons of desperately needed food, water, and medical supplies piled up behind the airport fences—and thousands of corpses piled up outside them—Defense Secretary Robert Gates ruled out the possibility of using American aircraft to airdrop supplies: "An airdrop is simply going to lead to riots," he said. The military's first priority was to build a "structure for distribution" and "to provide security." (Four days and many deaths later, the United States began airdropping aid.)
posted by Ted Rall at
7:28 PM
7 Comments:
What's equaly as sad is that the Chinese got aid and, man power to Haiti, faster than the U.S. We are screwing up faster than we can apply gauze to stop the hemorage. In Washington, the two parties continue to quible.
Like Joni Mitchell once said - "Nothings any good" - Ted, that seems to be your mantra. The US is doing more than any other country for these people, including their own neighbors. It started off chaotically and inefficiently, but I can see the efforts being made. I do not support your wanting to go to Afghanistan - it would be a waste of money - you can do the same muckracking back home in your apartment ala Hunter Thompson style, dude!
Sounds just like Katrina right libs?
The point is as the great poet George Michael said "if you're gonna do it do it right". If they were gonna do airdrops anyway do them when they can be the most effective. Paralysis by analysis.
When the 'in crowd' and 'money' decide a certain artist is actually an artist, jerks like Hunter Thompson are born. All the potheads and politicans who admit to doing weed, but who contine to support the war on drugs, joke about breaking the law, then idolize other drugged-out no-talents like Hunter Thompson. No wonder the man killed himself. It wasn't due to the pain from his medical problems. He couldn't live knowing he was a no-talent who didn't deserve one iota of the fame and money he got for his junk.
Then we have Ted Rall, smarter and more talented by leaps and bounds, who has to beg for funds to do good journalism on one of the most important issues of the past decade: the fake war in Afghanistan. Our country's politicians and our media, along with the no-loyalty-to-anyone-or-any-country corporations, have priorities completely backwards for the consumers and workers who feed their coffers.
Has anyone seen the New Millenium's Coward of the Decade, the visibly shrunken George W. "How Many are Still Dying Because of Me?" Bush, insulting Americans by suggesting we send cash for the people of Haiti? A known and proven war criminal is allowed to suggest we send money on his word! Talk about screwed-up priorities!
This is amazing. According the statits, Katrina was Bush's fault because he was a racist. Haiti is the US government's fault, because it is racist. Here is the take away quote: "It doesn't matter what color our president is. Even when it is
ostensibly doing good, the U.S. government can be racist, and, i...n an
entirely civil and bureaucratic fashion, savagely cruel." And you want the government running your healthcare?
The US is doing more than any other country for these people, including their own neighbors.
Please explain to the rest of us how letting vitally needed aid sit in an airport for days qualifies as "doing something"?
And you want the government running your healthcare?
Well, the Cubans have my permission to run healthcare in the United States, because they were the first to give healthcare to the Haitians after the disaster. Sounds to me like they know what they're doing.
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