Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four

"In the end the Party would announce that two and two made five, and you would have to believe it. It was inevitable that they should make that claim sooner or later: the logic of their position demanded it. Not merely the validity of experience, but the very existence of external reality was tacitly denied by their philosophy."
      - From the Novel "1984" by George Orwell

"Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two makes four"
      - Winston | 1984 by George Orwell

THE REAL REASON ISRAEL ATTACKED SYRIA 
by StormCloudsGathering | Published on May 6, 2013

There is much more to Israel's recent attacks on Syria than we are being told by the mainstream media.

FULL TRANSCRIPT
_________________________________
On Friday, May 3, 2013, Israel launched an air strike on a Syrian convoy. Followed a second attack on Sunday, May 5th, which targeted a scientific studies and research center in Jamraya near the Syrian capital of Damascus. The total amount of deaths and injuries is still unclear at this point.

Israeli officials were silent in regards to the strikes until Syria issued a public statement to the United Nations, condemning them as an act of war and asserting their right to retaliate. This is the second time this year Israel as initiated unprovoked attacks against Syria.

So what's really going on here? Why on earth would Israel do something like this?

The first thing to be aware of is that these recent moves on Syria are indirects attacks on Iran. Syria and Iran are bound by a mutual defense treaty. And any large scale war that breaks out with either one, will most likely draw in the other.

Likewise, any moves made by Israel, can and will be interpreted as a move by the United States. Because if Israel gets involved in a conflict with Iran, the United States will join the fight. This is not just an assumption. On April 17, 2013 the U.S. Foreign Relations Committee voted to endorse Resolution 65, which affirmed that the United States will fully back Israel militarily and financially should it attack Iran. This is very serious considering that Israel has openly indicated its desire to use military force on Iran on numerous occasions.

Now this aggression by Israel comes right on the heels of accusations by the U.S. government that the Syrian government had used chemical weapons against its own population, and that this constituted a red line that may justify military intervention. Just days later the Obama administration mysteriously backed down from these claims. And the mainstream media went silent.

Now we know why, as it turns out, a UN investigation into the matter revealed that it was actually the NATO backed rebels which used the sarin gas in the conflict, not the Syrian government. This is more than an embarrassing mix up. There's evidence that this event was set up to frame the Syrian government and to create the pretext for U.S. military involvement.

In January of this year, leaked documents from a U.K. based defense contractor, revealed a proposal by Quatar to have the firm provide false evidence that Syria had given the go-ahead for the use of chemical weapons in the country. In the documents, they claim that the plan had full approval from Washington.

If this is in fact what happened, what's shocking here is that in their attempt to frame the Syrian government, NATO has actually facilitated the use of chemical weapons on a civilian population. This is a war crime by any measure.

Now of course after Syria went public about the air strikes, Israel was forced to put forth an official justification. And they are now claiming that these attacks targeted shipments of missiles headed for Hezbollah in Lebanon. However, some analysts believe that the real motive was to derail Syria's progress in their fight against foreign militants that have been entering the country from Lebanon. Hezbollah, which is the most powerful military force in Lebanon, has sided with President Assad's government, in what they say is a war against foreign backed terrorists. And on May 1st they indicated they may directly intervene into the conflict.

Russia has also taken the side of the Syrian government, repeatedly calling for an end to external interference, and warning that U.S. plans to increase material support to the rebels may have serious consequences. Among these consequences, Russia has indicated the risk of thermonuclear war. China has issued similar warnings.

As in most of the major events that we're seeing unfolding right now, the real motives have nothing to do with the official justifications given by the government or the mainstream media. This has nothing to do with protecting the Syrian people. This much should be clear by the simple fact that NATO has backed these insurgents despite numerous atrocities. And is covering for them now even when they use chemical weapons. Nor is this about Iran attempting to build a nuke. Both the Mossad and the CIA have stated that Iran has yet to even decide to make a nuclear weapon, much less start.

What this really comes down to is that Iran is sitting on the world's third largest oil reserves and its not cooperating with the U.S. and NATO agenda in that region.

These attacks all have one goal in mind; to topple Syria and to draw Iran into an open confrontation. Which would then give the U.S. and NATO the pretext for an outright invasion. Handing them a stake, that what they want.

[ video of statements by James Baker and Hillary Clinton (psychos) here. They share a good laugh with Charlie Rose about their plans for mayhem ]

Now, how this crisis will play out is impossible to predict. Human decisions are what will determine how far this escalates. As of yet, Iran and Syria have exercised considerable restraint in the face of these attacks, although its uncertain how long they can afford to do so.

If this aggression continues, there will be a breaking point. The reality is the powers that be are intent on taking down Iran and Syria and they're willing to go to any lengths to make this happen.
However, they can do that has long as they have full control of the U.S. military personnel and this is their Achilles heel. If you want to affect the outcome of this situation. This is where you need to strike. As an American, you have access to U.S. military personnel. You can write letters to soldiers. You can send them videos. You can post in military forums. And if you live in a town with a military base, you post posters and hand out flyers. If all this seems like too much for you, then simply working to spread the message via Facebook and Twitter is a good start.

All this may seem like a long-shot, but if even one high-level officer speaks out against the plans to go to war with Iran, it could have a ripple affect that prevents this from moving forward. It may be that you don't know anyone in the military directly, however if you make a concerted effort to reach out to as many people as possible, you increase the chances that this information will reach someone who does know someone.

Regardless of our chances, we have to try. A lot of innocent people are going to die if we fail. Sitting back and doing nothing is morally unacceptable."

HatTip - YouTube : StormCloudsGathering 

BACKGROUND:
The Road to World War 3
by StormCloudsGathering | Published on Sep 11, 2012 

We are on a road that leads straight to the World War 3, but in order to see that and to fully understand what is at stake you have to look at the big picture and connect the dots. This video examines the history of the dollar, its relation to oil, and the real motives behind the wars of the past two decades.

U.S. Foreign Policy Is Not Evolving - Alienates. No Hope. No Change.

_________

"I want to change the mindset that got us into Iraq."

"Africa doesn't need strong men, it needs strong institutions. As for america and the west, our commitment must be measured in the dollars we spend. I pledge substantial increases in our foreign assistance, which is in Africa's interests and America's interests. But the true sign of interest is not whether a source of perpetual aid that helps people scrape by, it's whether we are partners in building the capacity for transformational change."

-- Barack Obama - 2008 presidential campaign

Bill Clinton with the U.S.' kind of guy, Rwandan strong man Paul Kagame.

"Traditionally, the way the United States has engaged in Africa has perpetuated tyranny and dependency."

The leadership of Africa is shameful (not unrelated to U.S. interventions to install these despots), but what about U.S. foreign policy in Africa? They support and nurture the corruption! Why is it that the U.S. government supports strong men in Africa, instead of supporting the people? We hear a lot of rhetoric about supporting democracies from the United States, but in reality the U.S. does not support "one man, one vote." The U.S. establishment is loath to see the "unwashed masses" of "underdeveloped" countries have real democratic rights -- that's mob rule! It would mean having to deal with sovereign countries that prioritized protecting their national interests, rather than being beholden to unaccountable foreign institutions and multinational corporations bent on plundering their resources.

In twenty years, will the legacy of recent American presidents like Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush and Obama be deemed worth the so-called "blow-back" or negative repercussions engendered by their "Economic Hitman" foreign policy? The policy of plundering "developing" countries. The policy of Disaster Capitalism. All of this is continuing under the Obama administration. The bombings and drone strikes, particularly in Libya and the Ivory Coast were all aimed at influencing and controlling the sovereign affairs of those countries and to benefit U.S. corporatocracy. And despite claims of UN sanctioned "humanitarian" bombings -- these sieges illegal as hell. So is the illegal and unjustified occupation of Haiti under Chapter VII, which continues under Obama, by the way. There is no hope, no change. In fact, U.S. foreign policy is much worst than status quo under Obama:

"The UN Charter does not permit the use of military force for humanitarian interventions. The military invasions of Libya and Ivory Coast have been justified by reference to the Responsibility to Protect doctrine.

The Responsibility to Protect is contained in the General Assembly's Outcome Document of the 2005 World Summit. It is not enshrined in an international treaty nor has it ripened into a norm of customary international law. Paragraph 138 of that document says each individual State has the responsibility to protect its populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity. Paragraph 139 adds that the international community, through the United Nations, also has "the responsibility to use appropriate diplomatic, humanitarian and other peaceful means, in accordance with Chapters VI and VIII of the Charter, to help protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity."

When is the U.S. going to change course and practice a just foreign policy? It's been a dismal diplomatic and humanitarian failure. You have to wonder at the inhumanity that allows it to continue. It's incredible that the U.S. continues its inhumane, neoliberal, disaster capitalism, preemptive war doctrine when such policies are alienating the rest of the world.

The United States' success in Africa against the "China threat" is being based on the successful installation of a U.S. military presence -- the United States African Command (AFRICOM). The name alone hints at what this military presence is about. African countries have thus far rejected the installation of U.S. military bases on their soil. However, it's clear that AFRICOM is entering African countries through its backdoor access to "strong men," like Yoweri Museven of Uganda, who answers to American interests, rather than the Ugandan people.

The need to install a U.S. "Command" presence in Africa explains the push by agents (more about that below) of the U.S. government to have the U.S. military intervene in the sovereign affairs of countries like Uganda. Wikileaks revealed the "murky relationship" the U.S. has with the Ugandan government. A U.S. State Department cable reveals they've signed an agreement that specifically states "that Ugandan forces may not utilize U.S. intelligence to engage enemies without first consulting U.S. officials."

Besides their connection to "strong men," other successful measures employed by the U.S.to further its "interests" are close ties with NGOs (often through USAID), which ultimately compromise the ability of a country's government to control their own economies, leading to political instability.

It's well documented that NGOs like the Peace Corps are sometimes recruited by U.S. Embassies and intelligence agencies to spy on behalf of American interests. So some question the phenomenal success of the Joseph Kony "promotional" video produced by Invisible Children (IC). Is it just coincidental that the KONY2012 campaign promotes U.S. military involvement in Uganda? The Wikileaks cable mentioned above applies to U.S. State Department "intelligence asset" -- Invisible Children. IC has confirmed that they acted as "spies" for the Ugandan government.

Bruce A. Dixon of Black Agenda Report writes that IC is funded by right-wing donors, "including The Discovery Institute, which Bruce Wilson fingered in a March 11 Talk 2 Action piece as the leading funder of efforts to promote the replacement of biological sciences in schools with “intelligent design,”along with the Caster Foundation and the National Christian Foundation, all prominent backers of anti-gay referenda, politicians and initiatives in the United States and around the world." Dixon continues: "Credible African journalists like Keith Harmon Snow have also alleged that Invisible Children’s white and male leaders have direct personal connections to US intelligence agencies."

IC's campaign to increase the involvement of the U.S. military in Uganda has been exposed, revealing its phony "charitable" and "humanitarian" front. Between the plethora of Ugandans and Africans voicing their negative opinions about the KONY2012 campaign for its; paternalistic white savior mentality; the less than generous contributions on the ground (just 30%) and the emotional instability displayed by the group's co-founder, it's hard to believe that "intelligence" was involved in the IC debacle.

Why doesn't the United State engage Africa (and other non-European countries) more positively and honorably? Why does the U.S. behave like a thief in the night? Or a more apt comparison: a rapist? The thief just takes your belongings, perhaps injuring one's dignity, but the rapist violates and angers the victim. No wonder Americans have been arming themselves at such unprecedented rates. It can't all be about Obama's presidency or the unholy fear of Black people by racists. Americans must have a sense -- though they aren't informed by the propaganda that passes for news in the privately held media -- of the rage that U.S. foreign policy spawns.

What about reciprocal, fair trade? Isn't it just good "Christian" values? Why not treat others as you would want to be treated? Would it be so hard to show Africans the same respect shown to by China for instance? China does not have a substantive military presence in Africa. Reportedly, the only Chinese military presence in Africa is that deployed in the past on UN "peacekeeping" missions and as military attaches, usually having duties at Embassies. China has chosen to emphasize its economic, not military ties with Africa.

(Partial Video Transcript)

People are dying… The situation is getting worst and worst… the money is there… everybody wants a piece of the Congo. Why are people living hand to mouth in one of the most mineral rich countries in the world? The Congo produces more than a billion dollars of gold alone each year. And the cobalt, and the tin, and the tungsten, and the copper.. all of that we are benefiting from. And yet we are silent.

When people invade your country, they rape your women, they rape the kids. They morally control your mind. There's a pattern to genocide. You can see it coming. It's like a hurricane. Are we going to have to wait for twenty more years, before somebody does something to stop this holocaust?

There is a global consensus that exists, that says it's ok for nearly 6 million Black people to die in the heart of Africa and for us to be silent. So I kept asking our intelligence people, is there any truth to this. What's happening out there? I don't think policymakers could claim that they didn't know.

There's something wrong. There's something wrong with us in terms of how we think about Africa.

The story of the Congo is often overlooked for its complexity. It's a story where boundaries are porous. And national identities mean little. Militant groups with ever changing acronyms are not who they claim to be. And neighbors loot and murder, while they are praised by the international community. But the death toll is now surpassing that of the holocaust. In part because of the way the United States is involved in Central Africa. Now facing a critical juncture in their history, the Congolese people need us to change the way we are involved, so that they can have the space to start rebuilding their country.

(end of partial video transcript)

What is the ultimate solution to the problems in the Congo? Activist in the video suggest that we hold governments accountable and give the Congo the space needed solve their own problems. The video also references a 2006 law (Public Law 109-456*) co-sponsored by President Obama ("for years he has been an advocate for the Congo") when he was a Congressman. One Activists thinks: "It is a law that supports the Congo." It would hold accountable Rwanda and Uganda, proposing sanctions to stop them from intervening in the affairs of the Congo. The law was passed, but key elements of that law are not being implemented by the U.S.

Makes you wonder; who really runs America? Evidently, it is not the current President of the United States, since Obama cannot even implement a laws he co-sponsored, nor can Obama deliver on most of the rhetoric and promises he made when he was Candidate Obama.

* The Democratic Republic of the Congo Relief, Security and Democracy Promotion Act of 2006

Support the implementation of this law, sign the petition at Change.org: Fully Implement Public Law 109-456

Requiem for an empire built on warheads, neutron bombs and Dot Dot Dit Dit Dot Dot Dash. Damned if I know?

A tribute to Gil Scot Heron, an American who told it like it is. He was especially clear about American hegemony. He chronicled the American society's inner workings, understood its tyrannical hierarchy and talked about the ways its political agents spread tentacles out to implement American foreign policy.

His birthday was April 1, 1949. He died last year at the age of 62. He died relatively young, like a lot of Black men who end up in jail (disproportionally) for substance abuse and suffer at the hands of the American two-tiered "justus" system, he suffered from ill health that no doubt was aggravated by his time spent in adverse conditions of the U.S. prison industrial complex.

The Ghetto Code. Dot Dot Dit Dit Dot Dot Dash.

by Gil Scott Heron

[..] The letter that I would like to go into very briefly is the letter C.

It is one of my favorites. It is very underrated. In terms of letters, you know.

Very few people sit around and comment on the virtues of the letter C.

But it is the first letter in cash money. It is the first letter in Constitution.

And it is the last letter in musiC.

It is the first letter in CIA...

The CIA and FBI, they're noses pressed up against our window pane.

Ears glued to our telephone. Why won't they leave us alone?

Dot Dot Dit Dit Dot Dot Dash. Damned if I know?

The CIA and FBI, noses pressed up against our window pane.

Ears glued to our telephone. Why won't they leave us alone?

Tryin' to pick up on the Ghetto Code. Old fashioned Ghetto Code.

[...] I know whoever they was paying to listen in

on my phone must have been sayin'

Dot Dot Dit Dit Dot Dot Dash. Damned if I know?

Then Gil relates the story of how Howard Hughes was paid $400 million by the CIA to raise a sunken Russian submarine.

Project Azorian cost $800 million according to Wiki. There's a reference on Wiki to James Cameron's The Abyss -- interesting parallels there between Cameron's latest race to the bottom and Hughes big payday -- must be nice to have seemingly limitless funds... Dot Dot Dit Dit Dot Dot Dash. Damned if I know?

Gil questions the CIA's motives for this "overextended" venture. Gil goes into the CIA in Latin America... Cuba, Castro, Allende, Chile, Communists, the Panama Canal, Columbia, and Che Guevara.

[..] The C might remind you of the Congo.

Say what? The Congo. The Congo?

The C that reminds you of the Congo

could remind you of how geography changes.

Looking at the map of Africa today.

Where you see the word Zaire, you would at one time see

the word Congo or Belgium Congo.

Remembrances of this would remind you of

a man that stood for African unity.

A man name Patrice Lumumba.

But somehow, somehow

Patrice Lumumba was assassinated

during a mysterious C. A Coup D'etat.

Other things that haven't been solved or

haven't been quite explained to anybody's satisfaction:

Was it Lee Harvey Oswald over there?

Or was it Lee Harvey Oswald over there?

Was he 5 '8 165 pounds or was he 6 '2 205?

Was he photographed for his appearance in Dallas or was that Moscow?

Arthur Brenner was he from Maryland, Maine or Massachusetts?

Was he kept in the Midwest or the Middle East?

And if they always have a chance to photograph these people

before they commit their crimes -- why can't they stop them?

Dot Dot Dit Dit Dot Dot Dash. Damned if I know?

But other problems we would still like to see solved?

Like JFK - you believe all that?

RFK - you believe that?

MLK - you believe all that?

Malcolm X - you believe that?
All this was some great big old C coincidence?

Or was it a little bitty c, conspiracy?

There are two questions that concern us very much about the letter C:

The first one is the CIA. Who the hell runs that organization?

The second one is: Who runs this country?

Dot Dot Dit Dit Dot Dot Dash. Damned if I know.

The Puppet, the Dictator, and the President: Haiti Today and Tomorrow

by BAR editor and columnist Jemima Pierre, PhD
Originially published at Black Agenda Report | 01/17/2012 - 20:13 — Jemima Pierre

There they were, at the official ceremony: the living, breathing banes of Haiti’s existence. “Rubbing shoulders on stage, shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries were Haitian President Michel Martelly, former US President and UN Special Envoy, Bill Clinton, and, Jean Claude Duvalier,” the mass murderer and former dictator. The dictator is hoping for some kind of comeback, and the puppet president “will open up Haiti to permanent US occupation and economic exploitation while terrorizing Haitians who fight back.” Clinton oversees the whole process on behalf of imperialism.

The Puppet, the Dictator, and the President: Haiti Today and Tomorrow

by BAR editor and columnist Jemima Pierre, PhD

“Duvalier has been allowed to roam Haiti’s streets, even dining at the finest restaurants with the likes of Sean Penn.”

Lost amidst the heart-wrenching stories and photographs of the “poor Haitians” living in squalor and misery circulating on the second anniversary of the 12 January 2010 earthquake, another set of images appeared. Few people noticed these other images – they received little attention in the mainstream media – but they offer an insight into the prospects for Haiti’s reconstruction and, indeed, into the prospects for Haiti’s political and economic future.

The images were taken during the official commemoration ceremonies at the hillside of Titanyen [pdf], north of Port-au-Prince, where former dictators Jean Claude Duvalier and his father, Francois Duvalier, discarded the bodies of their political opponents. After the earthquake, it became the gravesite of thousands of unidentified earthquake victims. During the ceremonies, local delegates and international diplomats paid their respects to the Haitians that lost their lives and pledged to help those who lived. But the most striking image that emerged during the ceremonies was that of an immoral triumvirate. Rubbing shoulders on stage, shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries were Haitian President Michel Martelly, former US President and UN Special Envoy, Bill Clinton, and, Jean Claude Duvalier. To understand the future of Haiti, we have to shift our focus from the “poor Haitians” who dominate Haiti coverage and understand the significance of these three figures to the shaping of US imperial designs on Haiti.

“President Martelly is the face – and backbone – of a resurgent Duvalierism.”

“Baby Doc” Duvalier returned to Haiti after twenty-five years in exile on 16 January 2010. His arrival was supposedly a surprise, though it is becoming clear that he was given the go-ahead by France and the United States. The Obama administration’s relative silence around the return of Duvalier needs to be contrasted with the noise it made while it forcefully tried to prevent the return of Jean Bertrand Aristide, Haiti’s first democratically elected President. The contrast smacks of duplicity. Let’s remember that under Duvalier (and his father, Francois) nearly 50,000 Haitians were killed, disappeared, and tortured by the reviled tonton macoutes, his private army. At the same time, Duvalier embezzled hundreds of millions of dollars, most of which sponsored an exiled life of grandeur. Despite the calls for his arrest and prosecution by Haitian survivors, lawyers, and international human rights organizations, Duvalier has been allowed to roam Haiti’s streets, even dining at the finest restaurants with the likes of Sean Penn.

What does Duvalier symbolize? For Haiti’s elite, he represents a form of totalitarian nostalgia. There is a cultish aura that surrounds Duvalier, a reminder of the era of “macoutized bourgeoisie,” as journalist Kim Ives has referred to it, when there was an alliance between the elite and the paramilitary forces of terror. But Duvalierism was also good for US politics and economics. In the 1960s, they needed Francois (“Papa Doc”) Duvalier to offset the rise of revolutionary communist Cuba. Under Jean Claude (“Baby Doc”), they were able to open up the Haitian markets and resources to US businesses, expand sweatshops, and lay the basis for the coming neoliberal economic policies.

“Duvalierism was good for US politics and economics.”

This is where the US-selected President Martelly and “Papa” Bill Clinton come in. As we’ve pointed out here on Black Agenda Report, right-wing candidate Martelly was handpicked by the Obama administration to become Haiti’s president in a forced election marred by irregularities and low voter turn out. More importantly, he is the face – and backbone – of a resurgent Duvalierism. His Duvalier affinities are well known as is his animus towards former President Aristide. He has historic ties with Duvalier loyalists, has called for “amnesty” for Duvalier, and is now in the process of reestablishing the Haitian army. Moreover, his erratic and belligerent interactions with his constituency and political colleagues – and, in particularly, his threats against Haitian journalists – are early indications of his repressive tendencies.

But he is a good puppet. As Ezili Danto of the Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network reminds us: “Martelly is merely a tool to be used by those ‘more schooled in the patterns of privilege and domination’ than any self-serving Haiti politician could ever dream to be. Martelly is the valve that releases accumulated surface pressure while reinforcing the ‘violent Haitian’ narrative. Brilliant US/Euro move. A no brainer.” In the meantime, he will open up Haiti to permanent US occupation and economic exploitation while terrorizing Haitians who fight back. As the U.S. attempts to consolidate its military presence in the Western hemisphere, control of Haiti is important. For many, this is one of the reasons explaining Haiti’s currently military occupation by the UN-led criminal force, MINUSTAH, the largest UN military force in a country that is not at war. It is also the reason for the massive new US embassy in Haiti, the fourth largest US embassy in the world.

“Clinton practically dictates Haitian policy.”

And then there’s Bill Clinton. Clinton provides the “kind” face of US control of Haiti. With his push to turn Haiti into a Western tourist paradise while Haitians become cheap sweatshop labor for making Western goods, Clinton is the arbiter of a new phase of neoliberalism. Clinton practically dictates Haitian policy. In fact, in one of the more absurd and nepotistic twists of Haiti’s political history, Haiti’s Prime Minister, Gary Conille, is Clinton’s former chief of staff. Conille also has a long family history with the Duvaliers: his father was a minister to Baby Doc. As @dominique_e recently said on twitter, everything is set to “kill Haiti with neoliberalism.”

Last week, Glen Ford remarked that in the US media, “Haiti is most often spoken of as a tragedy – when it is actually the scene of horrific crimes, mainly perpetrated by the United States over the span of two centuries.” With the puppet, the dictator, and the president on the scene, it is hard to imaging a more sinister cohort guiding Haiti down the path of US exploitation.

Jemima Pierre can be reached at BAR1804@gmail.com.

The MSM Continues to Perpetuate Fallacies About Haiti

Haiti experts have repeatedly criticized the US for excluding the Haitian government and Haitian companies from the reconstruction. The FOIA data proves them right: USAID and the State Department gave money to 6 US government entities and 7 UN agencies, but none to the Haitian government. Moreover, no NGOs or contractors listed in the FOIA were Haitian. How the Government Used Our Money in Haiti: Part II

In a Reuters blog article, Where Haiti’s money has gone, Felix Salmon rightly points out that:

"Development is a tricky game, easy to get wrong; as a rule, it only works when the people providing the aid are working at the margin, helping to strengthen existing projects, industries, and institutions, rather than trying to build them all from scratch. Let’s target it where it can be most effective, rather than where there happens to have been a newsworthy natural disaster."

However, the majority of his blog article is full of misconceptions, hearsay and disinformation:

“I’ve had two ministers come up to me this week, personally, and ask what’s in it for them,” says a frustrated IHRC official. “Since money grows on trees in this disaster, the attitude among Haitian officials is: Just call up your buddies in Washington, and they’ll send another check.”

The unanswered question is: what “Haitian officials” approached and wanted to know what was in it for them? Name names. Who? When? What are you, a reporter or a rumor monger? Look at the facts as reported by The Haiti Justice Alliance; they have documented proof gathered through a FOIA request that the U.S. excludes the Haitian government and Haitian companies from the reconstruction. The problem with reporting about Haiti is that even when a truth is conveyed, it is invariably wrapped in a lie or misconception.

"Meanwhile, Haiti’s suffering if anything is getting worse. Not only are new shantytowns springing up in places like Corail, but disease is now spreading disastrously: cholera hadn’t been seen in Haiti for more than 60 years, before the earthquake; it has now infected more than 250,000 Haitians, with no sign that it’s remotely under control."

Haiti has never had an outbreak of cholera.
The misconception is left that cholera was started by the conditions in the camps, but this is a lie. The cholera started in the countryside, in Haiti’s breadbasket. It has been conclusively proven in many scientific investigations that the UN/MINUSTAH brought cholera to Haiti. The latest was a "whole genome study", which "nails Nepal-Haiti cholera link." The cholera was spread because the Nepalese soldiers in Mirebalais dumped their feces into the Meye river, a tributary of the Artibonite river.

"The first thing to note is that most of the money given to Haiti hasn’t even started to be spent yet: a whopping $11 billion was pledged by donor countries and financial institutions in the wake of the earthquake, but if you take the US as a good example, it’s so far managed to spend just $184 million of the $1.14 billion allocated to the country. Even the Red Cross is barely halfway into its $479 million fund — all of which has been earmarked for Haiti, and none of which can be spent elsewhere, no matter how much better it might be put to use in some other context."

Haiti is the scene of an ongoing international crime. It’s to be expected that the worst sort of buzzards would be picking its bones clean. The NGOs supported by USAID are expected to return over 90% of the money spent in Haiti back to Washington.

"It’s worth remembering, too, that there was reason for optimism regarding the rebuilding of Haiti. There was lots of money, and the country’s right on America’s doorstep, which also helps. On top of that, it had the best conceivable international ambassador in Bill Clinton, backed up with the full support of the US government in the form of his wife’s oft-stated commitment to getting Haiti back on its feet.

Haiti is under occupation. Period. There is no freedom, human rights, sovereignty, autonomy or decision making by Haiti’s government. The U.S. and its “partners” are determined to keep real democracy out of the hands of the Haitian people as evidenced by their awareness and endorsement (according to Wikileaks) of the fraudulent nature of he last two major elections in Haiti.

It is a stupid decision on many levels, because every upcoming or anticipated disaster, calamity and mismanagement of resources…etc, is the direct responsibility of those who have imposed detrimental trade policies that have robbed Haiti of the ability to feed its people, that have sponsored coups, fraudulent elections, brought disease, the entire globe’s occupying armies to play their war games, the multinational exploiters of Haiti’s wealth, and others who use Haiti as their piggy bank and dumping ground for all of their toxic hate, greed and depravity… Speaking of depravity: they also share the responsibility for making Haiti the ground zero for sexual predators of every base/perverted sexual nature imaginable.

"What happens when you drop billions of dollars onto a country like Haiti? Immediately after the earthquake happened, in January 2010, I said that “one of the lessons we’ve learned from trying to rebuild failed states elsewhere in the world is that throwing money at the issue is very likely to backfire”. But that’s exactly what we did — with predictable results."

As a commenter said: "...no one has actually thrown money at Haiti! The vast majority of the $11 billion you cite has not been disbursed. It was only pledged– and it was pledged over the medium term."

The reoccurring theme of stories like this seem to assume that Haiti is a "basket case" or "failed state" because of the incompetence and corruption of Haitians themselves. See the quoted remark of "a frustrated IHRC official." Here is what should be part of that calculation, but somehow never is:

"On 12 August a group of Cuban guerrillas and Haitian exiles lands on the southern most tip of the country in another attempt to remove Duvalier. They are defeated by the Haitian Army, with the aid of US marines."

Are Haitians entirely to blame for the existing calamitous conditions that the majority is suffering under? How can that be, when the scoundrels, killers, thugs, dictators, drug dealers... etc. can invariably always count on the backing of the U.S. and its acknowledgedly most globally powerful military apparatus, intelligence agencies, institutional aid agencies, and its embedded allies in the mainstream media?

BACKGROUND:
How The Government Used Our Money In Haiti: Part II

"The only aid mechanism devoted specifically to rebuilding rather than relief is the “Office of Transition Initiatives.” They put Haiti’s future entirely in the hands of two contractors: Chemonics and Development Alternatives, Inc. (DAI)[3].

‎"Chemonics raises eyebrows for multiple reasons. First, it’s a subsidiary of ERLY Industries, which also owns American Rice. Since the 1980s, American Rice captured half of the Haitian rice market, a shift that Bill Clinton recently admitted was the reason Haiti can no longer feed itself. Moreover, the agricultural program it runs, which revolves around distributing hybrid Monsanto seed, is likely to jeopardize the future of Haiti’s agricultural system.

DAI, World Vision, and CHF International have also all been the subject of media scrutiny for their activities both in and out of Haiti.

The Center for Economic and Policy Research described DAI as having a “questionable past” of putting political objectives above humanitarian goals. Last year, World Vision came under fire for using “discredited” aid practices by aid critic Bill Easterly. Finally, CHF International’s spending habits were labeled “ostentatious” in a feature that also contained a confession from CHF’s field director that the organization has no experience in the role it’s filling in Haiti."

WIKILEAKS RELEASE: 722 Haiti-US embassy cables

Cable reference ID# 04SANTODOMINGO1361 | SUBJECT: CANARD II: DOMINICAN RIFLES FOR HAITI

"It is true that in early 2003 Foreign Minister Tolentino Dipp asked the Embassy for details about planned military training, and the Embassy furnished this information. This occurred in the context of unfounded press reports alleging that U.S. forces would number in the thousands and that they would be engaged in tasks other than training [emphasis added]."

NOTE: In the above quote from a cable by SouthCom , they are not denying that they provided Special Forces "training" of Haitian "rebels" in the DR in 2003 -- to overthrow of the democratically elected government of Jean-Bertrand Aristide. They just deny that the trainers numbered in "thousands."

In another cable (04SANTODOMINGO1515, CANARD II: DOMINICAN RIFLES FOR HAITI), the writer links the "rebels" to the supply of weapons the Dominicans had purchased through "annual licensed imports": "These are not military weapons; they are pistols, revolvers, hunting rifles and shotguns (never rifles) for use by private security services." they state. But, they conclude the cable by making a direct collation: "We understand that the arms used on this movement and in the capture of Gonaives were largely shotguns, hunting rifles, and pistols."

Open letter to Mr Kenneth Merten, Ambassador of the United States of America in Haiti

from Deputé Jean Baptiste Anthony Dumont of Léogâne.

Jean Baptiste Anthony Dumont, Député de Léogane

Since your arrival in Haiti, your behavior has not ceased revolting my compatriots who want to be the worthy heirs of that portion of land bequeathed by their ancestors.

You seem to forget or ignore, Mr. Ambassador, the history of this country's glorious past. In the affirmative, I invite you to inquire about the exploits of our heroes, culminating towards our independence.

You seem to also be unaware of the rights and duties of reserve that a diplomat must have in a sovereign country (Haiti).

If this is the case, I invite you to solicit the offices of your hierarchical superiors who, certainly, will exhort you to tone down your comments.

In any case, know, Mr. Ambassador, that there exists in this country, men and women who are not scared and able to publicly protest against your arrogant, presumptuous and devastating actions, for their country.

You consider yourself a little god. The way inelegantly in which you intervene in the internal affairs of the country proves it, eloquently.

Your recent affront, was inflicted on us at the time of the presidential and legislative elections. To satisfy your own interests, you've ordered members of the Provisional Electoral Council and government officials including the President of the Republic, to violate, against their will, the law of the land (Article 173-2 of the Constitution; Article 191 Electoral Law), by threat of revocation of their visas, now your weapon of choice.

Allow me to teach you that the U.S. Visa does not lead to paradise. You think you can do whatever you want in this country.

You dared to treat the impurities of certain compatriots regularly elected on April 20th, confirmed by the so-called special BCEN.

In addition, I do not believe it superfluous of me to point out the Bush-Al Gore saga to you. Where were you? Se sou chen mèg yo wè pis (it's on the skinny dog you see ticks, meaning it is on the unfortunate that you see wrong).

Finally, you used Machiavellian politics by encouraging Haitians unhappy with final results to revolt. How horrible!

Vis-a-vis these drifts, my dignity, my honor, my desire to hang on the strict observance of our laws command me to return the U.S. Visa which I hold. You can, at the present, take action thereon.

NB. : This decision engages only my person.

Sincerely

Port-au-Prince, on May 23rd, 2011

Jean Baptist Anthony Dumont,
Deputy of the people

---

Lettre ouverte à Monsieur Kenneth Merten, ambassadeur des Etats-Unis d'Amérique en Haïti

Depuis votre arrivée en Haïti, votre comportement ne cesse de révolter mes compatriotes qui se veulent être dignes héritiers de cette portion de terre léguée par leurs ancêtres.

Vous semblez oublier ou méconnaître, Monsieur l'ambassadeur, l'histoire de ce pays au passé glorieux. Dans l'affirmative, je vous convie à vous enquérir des exploits de nos héros, qui ont culminé vers notre indépendance.

Vous semblez ignorer également les droits et devoirs de réserve d'un diplomate dans un pays souverain. Si c'est le cas, je vous invite à solliciter les bons offices de votre supérieur hiérarchique qui, certainement, vous exhortera à mettre de l'eau dans votre vin.

En tout cas, sachez, Monsieur l'ambassadeur, qu'il existe dans ce coin de terre des hommes et des femmes à même de protester publiquement contre vos interventions cavalières, hautaines, présomptueuses, dévastatrices pour le pays.

Vous vous considérez comme un petit dieu. La façon peu élégante dont vous intervenez dans les affaires internes du pays le prouve éloquemment.

Votre dernier affront, vous nous l'avez infligé à l'occasion des élections présidentielles et législatives. Pour satisfaire vos impulsions, vous avez intimé l'ordre aux membres du Conseil électoral provisoire et aux officiels du gouvernement dont le président de la République de violer, contre leur gré, les lois de leur pays, ayant brandi la menace de révocation de leurs visas, désormais votre arme de prédilection (art 173-2 de la Constitution ; art 191 de la loi électorale). Souffrez que je vous apprenne que le visa americain ne conduit pas au paradis. Vous vous croyez tout permis. Vous avez osé traiter d'impuretés certains compatriotes élus régulièrement le 20 avril, confirmés par le soit disant BCEN spécial.

Par ailleurs je ne crois pas superflu de vous rappeler la saga Bush-Algore. Où étiez-vous ? (se sou chen mèg yo wè pis).

Enfin, vous vous êtes permis d'employer la politique machiavélique en incitant les Haïtiens mécontents des résultats définitifs à la révolte. Quelle horreur!

Face à ces dérives, ma dignité, mon honneur, mon souci d'accrocher au strict respect de nos lois me commandent de restituer le visa americain dont je suis détenteur. Vous pouvez, dès la présente, prendre des mesures y relatives.-

N.B. : Cette décision n'engage que ma personne.

Salutations distinguées.

Port-au-Prince, le 23 mai 2011

Jean Baptiste Anthony Dumont,
Député du peuple

---

Background:
Visas Cancelled (Provisional Electoral Council)

Election charade masks U.S. war against Haiti

In the South American nation of Chile, last week President Obama delivered a fantasyland narrative on America’s benign intentions towards its southern neighbors, including an obscene claim that the recent elections in Haiti are proof of a U.S. commitment to democracy in the region.

The truth, of course, is that the United States snuffed out democracy in Haiti in 2004, when it deposed, kidnapped and exiled democratically-elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

Over U.S. objections

Aristide returned to Haiti only days ago over the most strenuous objections of the United States. These sham elections, in which only 22 percent of eligible voters participated in the first round in November, were stage-managed by the United States to provide the form, but absolutely none of the substance, of democracy.

The elections excluded Haiti’s most popular political party: Aristide’s Fanmi Lavalas. The result was the exact opposite of democracy: the two U.S.-approved presidential candidates are both closely connected to former dictator Jean Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier, who returned to Haiti in January with the obvious blessing of the United States.

Obama’s version of democracy has produced the most grotesque spectacle imaginable: The most popular person in Haiti, Aristide, and his supporters are treated as political outlaws, while the presidency is guaranteed to go to an associate of the most hated man in Haiti, "Baby Doc" Duvalier. No democratic system could possibly result in such a travesty.

Barack Obama has no right to put the words Haiti and "democracy" in the same sentence. His fairytale of U.S. beneficence in the America’s or anywhere else in the world is an insult to humanity’s intelligence and fools no one outside an ignorant and self-possessed audience in the United States.

It is as if he were taunting the Haitian people, whose rightfully elected president was stolen from them by force of arms by George W. Bush. Barack Obama has made himself a full accomplice in the crime.

READ MORE at Black Agenda Report

U.S. Must Stop Supporting Fraudulent Haitian Elections

Special representative to the secretary general of the United Nations and chief of the United Nations mission in Haiti Edmond Mulet visits a voting station in Leogane, a town an hour out of Port au Prince, Haiti. Voting stations opened this morning, November 28, 2010, for Haiti's elections. Photo Logan Abassi UN/MINUSTAH

The November 28 Haiti elections were a "massive fraud." They were not inclusive of all of Haiti's political parties -- particularly its largest party, Fanmi Lavalas.

The planned March 20 run-off is illegitimate. Both of the current "selected" candidates Mirlande Manigat and Michel Martelly protested the elections prior to being told separately by the UN that they were leading in the count!

According to Mark Weisbrot of the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), the OAS (Organization of American States) itself, which manipulated the results of the elections in order to allow Michel Martelly into the fraudulent run-off has not spoken out in support of their own flawed recommendations about the elections. That's because the left of center governments of Latin America, he says, do not support the OAS/UN/U.S./France/Canada attempts to control who gets elected in Haiti.

Surprisingly in January of this year, India took the unprecedented step of admonishing the UN for its involvement in elections in Haiti.

In early February of this year, a group of 12 presidential candidates have demanded the annulment of the Haiti elections.

[In mid-February, two candidates Jean Henry Céant and Yves Crystalline lodged an official complaint against the UN's Edmond Mulet for his interference in Haiti's elections. The two candidates want an investigation of Edmond Mulet for violating UN statutes. The candidates charge that the conduct, actions and statements of UN official Edmond Mulet, constitute a violation of Article 41-1 and paragraph 4-5 of the Vienna Convention.

Going against U.S. foreign policy is unusual for the Congressional Black Caucus and members of Congress, but these officials have also lodged complaints, firing-off letters to the State Department to call for the inclusion of Fanmi Lavalas and other excluded political parties from the ballot before the elections and for the annulment of the resulting fraudulent election.



Susan Rice, the U.S. permanent representative to the UN has threatened Haiti, saying the U.S. will stop aid if Haiti does not adopt the OAS' "recommendations" for the elections, i.e. putting their preferred candidate Michel "Sweet Mickey" Martelly on the ballot for a run-off.

The CEPR has reported that the OAS methods for calculating who should be in the run-off are arbitrary and flawed.

On January 21st, the U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley confirmed that some visas had been revoked and that Haitian officials were among those affected. This is in line with the usual threats that countries are subjected to who do not fall in line with U.S. demands.

Unfortunately, Preval and the rest of the Haitian government have acquiesced thus far to the bullying. Crucially, four out of the nine members of the CEP (Haiti's provisional electoral council) did not sign-off their approval of the November 28 elections, further de-legitimizing the scheduled March 20 run-off elections. A fifth member was absent and did not vote.

As we have pointed out previously, the English language media has all but ignored the news that – as reported by Haitian newspaper Le Nouvelliste – four CEP members may never have signed the document affirming the Council’s decision regarding the second round of elections. Given the major media's neglect in covering this story, one could be forgiven for thinking that the second round is a foregone conclusion, however in Haiti the controversy is very much still alive.

Last week, according to L'Agence Haitien de Presse (AHP), two presidential candidates, Jean Henry Ceant and Yves Cristalin filed a legal challenge that would require Richardson Dumel (the CEP spokesperson) to prove the authenticity of the document he read with the final results on February 3. After failing to come to court, on Friday the police were sent to bring him in. According to AHP, however, he has yet to present the evidence that was asked of him."

"In Haiti, Controversy over Election Continues; In U.S., Media Goes Silent"

Center for Economic and Policy Research | Tuesday, 15 February 2011

The remarkable exception to all the caving in by the Preval administration has been when he issued a new Haitian passport to Dr. Aristide! This is a very encouraging sign of independence. This resonates with many as a sign that Preval is coming to the realization that Haiti does not really need the U.S. in order to undertake reconstruction.

Not unrelated: It is rumored that his erstwhile Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive's new office digs are in the luxurious U.S. Embassy -- the 4th largest U.S. embassy in the world! Why is that?

Prime Minister Bellerive is playing second banana these days to Bill Clinton on the Interim Haiti Reconstruction Commission (IHRC) and selling off Haiti's natural assets.

The Visa and other threatened sanctions by the U.S. State Department, Hillary Clinton's "friendly" visit, and Susan Rice's threat to withhold U.S. aid to Haiti aside, Preval must be sweating bullets knowing that last year, an OAS official, Brazilian Ricardo Seitenfus (who was later fired) revealed that the OAS had discussed forcing Preval to resign and planned to fly him out on a plane just as the U.S. had Aristide in 2004.

In reality, Venezuela alone has pledged and given more reconstruction money than the U.S. As Mark Weisbrot points out, the U.S. is no longer the only source of aid money. In less than twenty years, the geo-political dynamics will have changed. Some analysts have concluded that by 2020, China, India and the U.S., in that order, could be the biggest economies in the world.

The Haitian government should consider the big picture and reject the control the West is trying to have in Haitian internal affairs and say: Hell with the IHRC! Get out of Haiti MINUSTAH! Eh, get lost Canada! Au voir France!

Acts of God and Retribution in Haiti

U.S. funds finally headed to Haiti, 10 months after earthquake Photo: The Associated Press

The American media is playing fast and loose with the facts. They are painting a misleading picture of the situation in Haiti. CBS New's 60 Minutes did a piece this past Sunday which is representative of the propaganda; as was a recent piece by a pool reporter named Steve Tuttle at Newsweek (more about that at Mediahacker).

The 60 Minutes piece was peppered with outright lies and was titled, "Haiti: Frustration and Anger."

The "anger and frustration" of the Haitian people, 1.5 million of whom are still living in filthy, unsanitary, unsafe camps, battered by the elements and forced to face more earthquake, hurricane and tropical storm hazards? The piece features contact with a Haitian family living on a highway medium in Carrefour. It highlights an American doctor, David Walton who has worked with Partners in Health for 13 years. 60 Minutes also interviews former President Bill Clinton. Mr. Clinton says he "loves the place" and he "doesn't want anybody to die because of the floods," describing the earthquake a "natural disaster that hit the country in a highly impacted dense urban area, now it's covered with rubble which has to be cleared as you do the rebuilding, housing always takes the longest."

The piece does not bother to tackle any tough questions. Here are a couple of questions for 60 Minutes:

• Why hasn't Haiti had cholera in almost 60 years?
  This is a surprising fact, in light of the fact that the Bush administration, for political reasons had the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) withhold loans targeted for water infrastructure improvements in the very area where the cholera outbreak started and is spreading from rapidly.
  
  A corollary to that question: Why did the IDB make the Aristide government pay interest on loans his government never received?
  
  *The political reason the U.S. withheld loans: To oust the democratically elected government of Jean-Bertrand Aristide.


• Why does the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) think the cholera is a strain imported from South Asia?


• Why does a Harvard cholera expert, John Mekalanos, think that is is important to know the origin of the cholera strain. Mekalanos says the virulent strain is imported from South Asia.

"John Mekalanos, a cholera expert and chairman of Harvard University's microbiology department, said it is important to know exactly where and how the disease emerged because it is a novel, virulent strain previously unknown in the Western Hemisphere - and public health officials need to know how it spreads."

Experts: Did UN troops infect Haiti?

• 60 Minutes, how did the trash you filmed in the city cause the cholera in the countryside?


• Why didn't 60 Minutes use Google to learn that Bill and Hillary Clinton actually spent their honeymoon in Mexico -- Acapulco, not Haiti. The Clintons had returned from their honeymoon, and visited Haiti a week later. Bill Clinton says so on page 235 of his memoir "My Life."


• Why didn't 60 Minutes ask Mr. Clinton why his wife is blocking aid money to Haiti? She said back in March that Haiti was no more corrupt than any other developing country. Secretary Clinton also stated that she "sent a lot of experts from government agencies here in the U.S." to "work closely" with the Preval government prior to the January quake.


• What's changed since to make the U.S. government put a hold on the aid it pledged in March? Don't they care that most of the victims of the January earthquake are living in intolerable misery?

"As if Haitians living in tents and under scraps of plastic don't have enough to grapple with as a tropical storm bears down and cholera spreads, the U.S. Congress has put up another obstacle to delivering the $1.15 billion in reconstruction money it promised back in March.

The State Department still has to prove the money won't be stolen or misused — not an easy task in a country notorious for corruption.

"Given the weak governmental institutions that existed in Haiti even before the earthquake, Congress wants to be sure we have that accountability in place before these funds are obligated," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told The Associated Press."

New Obstacles Stalls Aid Funds for Haiti

The cholera epidemic, UN military occupation and U.S. controlled Haitian government are crippling Haiti's ability to recover from consecutive disasters.
There's a reason why the Haitian government must tread lightly in declaring the cholera epidemic an imported disease (Dr. Alex Larsen, Head of the Haitian Ministry of Health announced that the disease is imported, but did not name the UN's Nepalese base specifically as the source of the contamination).

The Haitian government is submissive to the UN occupiers. MINUSTAH has their boots on the figurative neck of the Haitian population, much the same as the Haitian military did. The internationals believe and authorities in Haiti have vocalized that the tanks and guns of the UN make them the owners of Haiti.

Ward at St. Nicholas Hospital Photo: Georgianne Nienaber

Sources close to the political situation in Haiti say that Preval was hand picked by the Bush administration – probably because they were assured of his compliance to their neoliberal measures. This has been proven true in Preval's actions since taking office as he presided over the privatization of most government owned services. Preval used his veto power to rebuff a modest raise of the minimum wage – which is USD $3.049 a day or about 38 cents an hour for an 8 hour day as of February 24, 2010.

The majority of the Haitian Parliament is made up of officials who were part of the U.S. installed puppet government of (U.S. citizen from Boca Raton, Florida) Gerard LaTortue. Wyclef Jean's uncle Raymond Joseph was one such Haitian official fronting for Bush in Haiti. Preval did not make any changes to the parliament's makeup when he assumed the Haitian presidency.

The Haitian diaspora and Haitians suffering in the camps are fed up with the Preval government and they want change. They blame the Haitian government's "incompetence" and "lack of compassion" for the desperate situation on the ground. However, Haitians should be aware, as outlined above, that the weak Haitian government in place now wasn't chosen to represent Haitians. It was chosen to represent the interests of the international community. A weak Haitian government suits the corporatist agenda just fine.

The Haitian government is just a pawn used to break the will of the Haitian people. The Haitian population has demonstrated for and died in great numbers since the first U.S. sponsored coup in 1991 to support of a real democracy in Haiti. Democracies in developing countries is anathema to the neoliberal agenda of the corporatist elite that run the G-20 major economies of the world.

The Obama administration's Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton is of two minds about the "corruption" in Haiti. Sometimes she thinks that it doesn't represent a substantial obstacle ("We see that all over the world. It is not, by any means, unique to Haiti. I have seen it in every setting and on every continent that I have visited."), other times her State Department is so concerned about the aid money being "stolen" and "misused" that they must put a hold on it.

Truth be told, the State Department is not very concerned about Haitians and their plight. What really matters is whether the U.S. will get the bang for the bucks that they and their allies, particularly France and Canada, have invested in the November 28 "selections" in Haiti. The U.S. alone has 10 million in the pot.

Finally, after over ten months of waiting for aid money, the government of Haiti, to its credit has sought aid from Europe. It's a long shot since Secretary Clinton has in no uncertain terms asked U.S. allies to withhold funds from Haiti.

"The Secretary of State told the U.N. conference in March that if the effort to rebuild was "slow or insufficient, if it is marked by conflict, lack of coordination or lack of transparency, then the challenges that have plagued Haiti for years could erupt with regional and global consequences."

Nearly all the countries present at that conference have been slow in delivering on their promises since."

Some US rebuilding money finally headed to Haiti

In a recent development, AP's Jonathan Katz reports that more than ten months after the quake, the U.S. State Department has finally released $120 million in aid for rubble removal, housing, education and Haitian government budget support.

Haitians are too quick to hand the U.S., France, Canada and their allies more ammunition to continue to keep Haiti subservient by joining in on the chorus that blames the Haitian government alone for the worsening catastrophe in Haiti.

It was the international community and their proxy, the UN which brought this cholera plague to Haiti. It was the U.S. which left Haiti vulnerable by pressuring the IDB to withhold loans that were targeted for improving the water infrastructure in Haiti. They worked with the morally bankrupt private sector run by Haiti's mafia families and renegade military to oust the democratically elected government of Aristide, twice! It was they, who forced neoliberal policies down Haiti's throat which has continuously kept Haiti in debt and dependency and lead to Haiti's inability to feed its people and the loss of over 300,000 jobs for subsistence farmers... forcing many of them to immigrate to the crowded capital of Port-au-Prince where they perished in the devastating earthquake.

Haiti is unofficially a "protectorate," of the U.S. and the "NGO nation" the U.S. has created since the orchestration of two coups that ousted Haiti's democratically elected government. The Haitian government has very little authority. Most social services are provided by the Non-governmental agencies (NGO), who grow more and more arrogant and dismissive of the Haitian government every day.

If Haiti's government was stronger (and had more support from Haitians), maybe they would be empowered to hold free and fair elections where every party is allowed to participate, including the majority party, Lavalas. This could be a way to keep Haiti from being made an official "protectorate" of the U.S. Of course, that is not the only way.

Haiti's government cannot continue to be weakened... supporting the government could be a way to force the UN to get out of Haiti at the end of their current "mandate." It was a certainty on October 15 this year that the U.S. run Security Council would renew the occupation.

We cannot continue to give the U.S. the excuse it seeks to make Haiti a protectorate.

If and when that (officially) happens, the U.S. (and their allies) will probably release all the aid funds they've been withholding. The bad guys would have won because they will have broken the will of a population which seeks to be free. Haitians want a real democracy. They do not want the current system where a tiny minority of greedy families own 80% of the country's wealth and resources, refusing to allow the population to have a chance to have a dream for equality, justice and a chance for advancement in a free society, where one man, one vote makes for a real democracy. It is corrupt, inhumane and evil U.S. foreign policy which is keeping that dream deferred for all Haitians.

The plan for Haiti (as often vocalized by ex-president Bill Clinton, head of the IHRC and his wife Secretary of State Hillary Clinton) is to continue on the path of making Haiti into a heaven for corporations who will supply low-wage sweatshop menial jobs that offer no chance for workers to build a future, and to make Haiti an island "vacation paradise."

What about Haitians? Where is their paradise? This is their country. Haitians want more for their children. They want more for their country.

The Interim Haiti Reconstruction Commission (IHRC) is unconstitutional. The Haitian parliament should not have subverted the will of the Haitian people by approving its formation. The makeup of the Commission is illegal, because foreigners cannot govern in Haiti.

In the final analysis, the real sin of Haiti was that they were the first ever successful slave rebellion. They established the first free country in this hemisphere. Haitians conquered the white supremacists and are this hemisphere's first black republic.

Will Haitians ever stop paying for being the victors over the white supremacists?

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The Heritage Foundation Warns Haiti to Stay Clear of Candidates Who Are in Hugo Chavez's Camp

The Heritage Foundation is at it again. Last time they suggested the militarization of aid to Haiti after the quake, on the fear that drugs from Venezuela would pass through Haiti. They opined that appointing Bush and Clinton to head relief efforts would be just swell bi-partisan politics. The very policies the U.S. then implemented. Now the HF is urging the U.S. to lock down control of Haiti's elections, preventing undesirable (Aristide-like?) candidates from being elected in order to foil Hugo Chavez' "evil" plan to make Haiti a part of his "camp."

Ray Walser, Ph.D.
Senior Policy Analyst
The Heritage Foundation

The Heritage Foundation is circulating an op-ed by Ray Walser titled: "An Aristide government would put Haiti in Hugo Chavez Camp."

An excerpt of Mr. Walser's bio from the Heritage Foundation website:

Walser's interests and emphasis in policy research include defending the values of freedom and individual liberty; strengthening democratic institutions and the rule of law; and advancing free trade and free-market economies in the Western Hemisphere.

Among his subjects are how to protect U.S. security and meet the transnational threats posed by drugs, crime and terrorism in a global age. He devotes particular attention to the resurgence of anti-American and anti-democratic political forces in the Americas.

In reality, Mr. Walser's fears have evidently already come to fruition. It happened even without the evil presence of Jean-Bertrand Aristide in Haiti. Mr. Chavez was given a hero's welcome last time he visited Haiti in 2007. This happened just three years after the U.S. supported coup against the Aristide government. Mr. Chavez declared during his visit that Venezuela owed Haiti a debt for helping his country's revolutionary hero, Simon Bolivar win its independence from Spain.

Mr. Chavez insisted that his commitment to Haiti was a "duty, not charity." True to his word, Venezuela embarked on several trilateral agreements with Haiti and Cuba. One agreement was for discounted fuel to Haiti and aid in building an oil refinery. Money from this deal was used by the Haitian government in the aftermath of the deadly Jan. 12 earthquake.

Additionally, Venezuela has launched, along with Cuba, an effort to improve Haiti's healthcare system. Venezuela was one of the first nations to cancel Haiti's debt after the quake, while urging other Latin American countries to also cancel their debt. Venezuela has kept their promise to support Haiti. Haiti has not been the only beneficiary of Venezuela's generosity; Venezuela has offered billions to countries in Latin America.

The Latin American countries participating in the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA) are creating an alternative to the neoliberal policies of the U.S. which has favored autocratic governments, the marginalization of workers, created a cycle of debt and dependency (using the IMF, IDB, WB and WTO) and contributed to the dramatic widened of the gap between the rich and the poor.

Venezuela and Haiti are further linked in that both countries have been targets of coups financed and supported by the U.S. In Venezuela, the coup was unsuccessful due to a popular uprising. Significantly, post coup, Chavez had support from some elements of the military, which Aristide did not, since he had disbanded the military with the jubilant approval of the people of Haiti. The Haitian military had long been the source of terror and oppression. They were often used by the U.S. to overthrow Haitian governments.

President Aristide currently resides in South Africa where he has been given asylum and protection by the S.A. government. For more information on how the U.S. destabilized Haiti visit the Third World Traveler's Haiti page or read about timelines and personalities involved in the 1991 and 2004 coups against Aristide at History Commons.

The destabilization campaign against Hugo Chavez government continues. The attack is on three fronts. One is the financial front; the financing of the opposition. The diplomatic front is second; the leveling of sanctions, on the basis of claims that Venezuela is trafficking in drugs, persons and arms. The third front is the military; including an increased military presence in the region.

In complete disregard for the resulting chaos following the two coups sponsored by the U.S. government in Haiti, Ray Walser's op-ed urges the U.S.' continuing intervention into Haiti's internal affairs, rather than independence and autonomy:

The United States and the world have their sights set upon on a Haiti-owned process for building a new, sustainable, productive island nation. Yet in a country where 80 percent of the populace lives on less than $2 a day and where hundreds of thousands live in tents, rough sketches of a better future are still on the drawing boards.

A more complete picture of the situation would have noted why the multinational corporations that operate in Haiti are able to pay slave wages in their sweatshops, bar union organizing, pay low/or no trade tariffs and receive other favorable concessions. They benefit directly from the "free trade" policies of the U.S. government. These policies have destroyed the Haitian economy.

Interestingly, former President Clinton apologized and said he regretted that his administration destroyed rice production and food security in Haiti. Too little, too late. It is very easy to find examples of this sort of economic terrorism imposed on Haiti throughout its two hundred year history.

Mr. Walser puts forward what he believes is required of a new Haitian government. He advocates for the continuation of a Haiti hamstrung by the occupations of the UN, NGOs, and the "international community":

It also requires an ability to work with the complex maze of international bodies: the United Nations, non-governmental organizations, and key donors like Brazil, Canada, France and the United States.

Generally idealistic, sometimes cynical and always bureaucratic, this patchwork of forces provides the safety net that keeps Haiti from falling into the abyss. Without sustained international support, Haiti will collapse.

Unfortunately, except Brazil, the "key donors" Mr. Walser named have not come through with the pledged aid. Reportedly, only 9% of the aid money has materialized. Reportedly, Brazil, Estonia, Norway and Australia are the only donors who have followed through on their pledges. Venezuela is not credited by the mainstream media, but they have given substantial direct donor money to the Haitian government, as well as canceling Haiti's debt. The Haitian government only receives a penny of every donor dollar given, so it has limited resources to aid the population, never mind undertaking the reconstruction of the country.

Cuban doctors were already in
Haiti in large numbers (350+).
Cubans established medical
infrastructure before the quake

Also giving Haiti substantial aid on the ground is Cuba. For political reasons this fact is not publicized by the U.S. mainstream media. The Cuban doctors and Haitians trained as doctors in Cuba were the first responders after the devastation of the earthquake. Haitian students were permitted to train as doctors in Cuba because Haiti's first (free) medical school, built by the Aristide administration, was shut down and occupied by troops of the U.S. Southern Command. The troops where there to assure the removal of Aristide. Symbolically, after the U.S. removed Aristide, they flew him to the Central African Republic, where he was detained in the former French colony and military regime temporarily.

The Cuban doctors who have operated in Haiti for years have been struggling to keep their medical services free in the face of opposition from the private sector in Haiti--private hospitals for one. They even went on strike briefly to protest the imposition of fees on their patients.

The supposed "generally idealistic" motives of the United Nations must be a joke. The United Nation's Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) is conducting a brutal military occupation of Haiti. Putting a smiley face on that is pretty cynical. Especially when you take a look at the brutally violent way MINUSTAH stiffed dissent in the shantytowns where Haiti's most popular party Lavalas has the most support.

Massive non-violent demonstration originated from these poor communities. They demanded the return of Aristide. They were often attacked violently during these protests and unarmed protestors shot. MINUSTAH also conducted bloodie raids, which most view as massacres into the communities of Cite Soleil and Martissant. If MINUSTAH was there to protect the Haitian population this was not evidenced by their criminal actions.

Mr. Walser quickly glosses over the fact that Lavalas is barred from the upcoming November 28 elections. What should be noted is that elections without the participation of Haiti's largest political party are illegitimate. Additionally, elections under occupation are illegitimate.

Also quite ludicrous is the writer's statement that "without sustained international support, Haiti will collapse." By that Mr. Walser means that not only should the UN occupation of Haiti continue, Haiti's new de facto Governor General, Bill Clinton (co-head of Haiti Interim Reconstruction Commission-HIRC) should be given carte blanche to usurp Haiti's sovereignty. Never mind that Clinton has admitted that his past actions have had disastrous consequences for Haiti; i.e. the lowering of trade tariffs, privatization and other interventions into Haiti's internal affairs, such as insisting that Aristide negotiate and work with the criminals who plotted a coup against his government.

The writer is concerned that the elections "pose a risk that political divisions will further fracture the nation" -- but according to the title of his piece, the primary concern seems to be for the influence that Hugo Chavez would have on Haiti, not for the recovery and well-being of Haiti itself. In any case, wouldn't it be advantageous to the U.S. if Haitians were too divided to challenge the occupation of Haiti by the U.S.' proxies?

Who or what, is a radicalizing influence on how the world views the U.S.? If polled most people with negative views about the U.S., they would most likely say U.S. foreign policy -- not the venerable Hugo Chavez. Mr. Chavez has kept his promise in Venezuela to close the poverty gap and empower the population. Poverty in Venezuela has fallen from 70% in 1996 to 23% in 2009. A significant change. Unfortunately, in the U.S., the gap between the rich and the poor is on the rise.

In Mr. Walser's opinion, Aristide's return would make Haiti "ungovernable"-- the question that arises is: for who? The U.S. wants to keep control of Haiti, that much is clear. Aristide was removed by Washington because he was not privatizing as fast as they wanted him to. Aristide's government (although Haiti is a very poor country) was put on an aid, loan and trade embargo by the U.S. What other purpose could that have had except to destabilize and remove the Aristide government? The actions undertaken by the U.S. government were not only inhuman, immoral and collective punishment, they were a human rights violation. Collective punishment is recognized by the Geneva Conventions as a war crime.

The U.S. has waged an undeclared war against Haiti since the enslaved won their independence from France in 1804. America's first action against Haiti, which had just won freedom from the tyranny of chattel slavery, was by the slave owning Thomas Jefferson, who declared a trade embargo against Haiti that lasted from 1804 to 1862.

Americans are fed the idea that they have a lot to fear from Hugo Chavez. He is an imminent threat to "freedom" and "democracy." The problem with this ideological stance is that it doesn't take into account that Americans are under a more pressing concern; its for their way of life. They are suffering through an onerous financial depression. The situation is not helped by the spending on preemptive wars of aggression and other priorities that many don't support. The U.S. is also spending about 9 million dollars financing the Venezuelan opposition. Surely, the same story is repeated in Ecuador, Bolivia and anywhere else where the feared left holds sway. The U.S. government will spend 3 billion dollars to keep Israel armed to the teeth and marginalizing and killing Palestinians. Just maybe Americans think that their government's priorities are all screwed up.

Heritage Foundation, how about advancing "free trade" and "free market" economics in the U.S.? If one were to take a look at the thriving city of Hiroshima, Japan and contrast it with American cities like Detroit or Flint in Michigan, it would be hard to believe that the U.S. won WWII. An article about how "dozens of U.S. cities may have to be bulldozed in order for them to survive" in the UK Telegraph, should be a wake up call to Think Thank ideological right-wingers and the Obama administration alike. The U.S. should find a system that works to take care of their people, their infrastructure and their economy before they impose their failed economic systems on the rest of the world, never mind the Western Hemisphere.

What kind of stupor must the American people be in that some actually believe Mr. Walser's and the U.S. government's contention that Hugo Chavez threatens their "freedom" and "democracy?"

The right-wingers at the Heritage Foundation also want people to believe that Haitians are to blame for all that has befallen them over the years, not the criminal actions of the U.S. government and the "international community." They write articles that berate Haiti's bad governments, corruption and incompetence. So one would think that the U.S. celebrated with Haitians when the Duvalier dictatorship was forced out by a popular uprising. Not so, this was the reaction of major league baseball (MLB) to the overthrow of Baby Doc Duvalier:

MLB in alliance with Rawlings Sporting Goods conspired to help destabilize Haiti after the overthrow of dictator Jean Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier in the late 1980’s and moved their baseball factories to Costa Rica, throwing thousands of Haitian women out of work, the professional sports organization should acknowledge their long, exploitative relationship with the devastated nation and make a much more significant donation to help rebuild the nation from which it made so much money.

Daniel Fignolé Provisional President of Haiti. 05.25.1957 - 06.14.1957

The U.S. corporate run government has more often then not, thrown their support behind autocratic governments in the global south. They supported the Duvalier dictatorships of Papa and Baby Doc, a terrorist regime that killed over 50,000 Haitians.

The U.S. pushed out the government of Daniel Fignolé a populist who held the Haitian presidency for about a minute before Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier. Fignolé was "a liberal labor organizer in Port-au-Prince so popular among urban workers that he could call upon them at a moment's notice to hold mass protests... He pledged to raise the daily wage and expressed determination to remain in office, angering his opponents."

Those were goals that did not suit the U.S., making Fignolé a threat to "freedom" and "democracy."

Why did Daniel Fignolé anger the U.S.:

Although Fignolé promised an FDR-style New Deal and was explicitly anti-Communist, his politics had long made him suspicious in the eyes of the Cold War era American administrations. CIA director Allen Dulles warned President Eisenhower that Fignolé had "a strong leftist orientation." The administration refused to recognize the Fignolé government, whose political program was seen as "comparable with the Soviets." Eisenhower told the French Embassy in Washington that he was worried Fignolé "might eventually become another Arbenz," referring to the social-democratic President of Guatemala overthrown three years earlier in a CIA-backed coup d'etat.

With foreign governments and most elements of Haiti's traditional power structure arrayed against him, Fignolé could not hold onto power. After just 19 days, the Haitian armed forces, with U.S. foreknowledge, broke into the presidential chambers. They seized Fignolé, forced him at gunpoint to sign a resignation letter, and bundled him into a waiting car.

The U.S. has evidently financed and supported coups in Haiti. Despots and criminals like Raoul Cedras and Guy Philippe, former members of the Haitian military received training at the infamous School of Assassins. Reportedly, Raoul Cedras is living in luxury in Panama at the expense of the U.S. government.

Guy Philippe was pursued by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) on drug charges briefly after he indicated on Haitian radio that the Haitian private sector was involved in the 2004 coup against Aristide, but has since been allowed to roam freely in Haiti. He even ran for elected office in 2006. The people Philippe named were those that were considered the "opposition" by the U.S. government. The "opposition" were supported through USAID, the IRI and other "democracy building" organizations.

Let's be clear, Haiti's democratically elected government was destabilized and removed by the U.S., France and Canada. It was all planned at the Ottawa Initiative. The intervention put Haiti in a precariously dangerous position because the country was left more vulnerable to the natural disasters that hit the country in quick succession, culminating in the earthquake.

Now the geologists say that Haiti's earthquake was caused by a previously "unknown" fault. Who's fault was it?