I believe in compassion. I believe in second chances. But putting former president George W. Bush in charge of the Haiti Relief Effort, along with former President Bill Clinton, with millions of U.S. dollars involved, is a crime.
No, President Obama. NO! You cannot take this step. It is like opening the door to looters and thieves. This act must be undone. It is not bi-partisan. It is foolhardy, and shows the degree to which the Bush and Cheney drones are still undermining real change that must take place, top to bottom in Washington. It is totally, absolutely, completely wrong.
George W. Bush already has two strikes against him. The Katrina Disaster response is one. The kidnapping of Haiti's President Jean-Bertrand Aristide by U.S. forces in 2004 is another. In 2006, Haitian citizens and four human rights groups filed legal action against US for kidnapping President Aristide and fomenting the coup
The 2006 complaint cited U.S. support for a systematic campaign -- under the Bush Administration -- to undermine democratic government, funding and military support of opposition and paramilitary groups, and the kidnapping of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide by U.S. forces.
Should Obama put a fox in charge of the chicken coop? No, Mr. President. You've made a big mistake. Admit it and rescind the invitation.
What Haiti needs is visionaries, not vacuous placeholders. We need Haiti relief leadership that understands how to create sustainable solutions and restore human dignity. We need visionary business leaders, not politicians, who can help guide the people's reconstruction of their own devastated country.
We don't need Bush (and implicitly Cheney and his wrecking crew) to hand U.S. aid money over to their favored industrial crones who view Haiti as a sweatshop, and Haitians their underpaid labor.
NO.
Follow Alexia Parks on Twitter: www.twitter.com/alexiaparks
Caroline Gluck: Dispatch from the Ground in Haiti
The needs in Haiti now are enormous, as most basic services just aren't functioning. At the best of times, daily life in Haiti for the 80% or so of the population, who have to live on less than two dollars a day, is a daily struggle.
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ABOARD THE USS CARL VINSON (Jan. 15) – Supplies are not reaching victims of the massive earthquake that hit Haiti on Tuesday because of a coordination failure among military operations and humanitarian agencies, Navy Rear Adm. Ted N. Branch said today from the flight bridge of the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson.
The efforts of the military and relief groups to reach the estimated tens of thousands of homeless, injured or deceased have been "stymied" by coordination problems..." Branch said. ...
Aid groups with supplies at the airport in Port-au-Prince don't have the means to distribute it, and no one is in place on the ground to receive medical supplies or water, Branch said. Meanwhile his own ship's 19 helicopters are idle on the flight deck, since they have no supplies to distribute. "We have the lift, we have communications, we have command and control on a sea platform, but we don't have supplies," he said.
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The buck stops with President Obama. He's the Commander in Chief. The above report (and Ms. Parks' post) suggests he's disengaged and delegating, instead of personally running a "war room" to prevent the rescue effort from getting FUBAR.
Mr. President: Say (ala Al Haig): "I'm in charge here." Then get to WORK.
With countless lives in the balance, the whole world is watching.
Eric C. Jacobson
Public Interest Lawyer
Culver City, California
That said, what is Clinton doing collecting ANY money. He is the UN Secretary General's designated special rep to Haiti. He should promote all other legitimate relief agencies and not impose another layer of bureaucracy (and administrative costs between people here and in Haiti. He's drunk with fund raisng!
That said, who knows, maybe the figurehead presence of said Failure Incarnate might pry open the wallets of a right winger or two who toss the Haitian relief effort a couple bills instead of ordering a third bottle of Crystal. Bless them.
He's not allowed in the cookie jar anymore without strict adult supervision. We lost BILLIONS in the rebuilding of Iraq under his 'leadership'. Every dollar here could feed somebody for all or part of a day and cover the cost for much needed medical treatment, therefore we cannot afford to waver in our support or lose track of a single penny. Pres. Bush needs to be blackballed from anything that has to do with politics or money, as he has proved that he completely inept when it comes to handling both of them.
And what about "Hope" and "Change"