Did U.N. Peacekeepers Bring Cholera to Haiti?
Cholera Reaches Port-au-Prince
A very good article on the cholera situation in Haiti. Very difficult to say that the Nepalese are responsible for this. We are bracing for the Haitian election on 28 November and this problem will only be compunded by potential political violence that may take place. We have already had numerous instances of Haitians throwing stones at the Doctors without Borders personnel trying to help the cholera victims.
http://goatpath.wordpress.com/2010/1...n-mass-graves/
Earthquake Anniversary 12th January
The UK press has these two separate reports in 'The Independent': on the Cuban medical aid 'brigade':http://www.independent.co.uk/life-st...e-2169415.html
The situation:
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On Tuesday 12 January 2010, Haiti was jolted and broken by an earthquake which killed 230,000 people. Today, despite pledges of billions and the presence of thousands of aid groups and missions, its people's plight is a festering global scandal.
Link:http://www.independent.co.uk/news/wo...e-2179837.html
This appears to accompany a C4 'Dispatches' documentary on tonight, on gangsters and more:http://www.channel4.com/programmes/d...s-78/episode-1
United States-Haitian Relations from 1791 to 1810: How Slavery And Commerce Shaped Am
United States-Haitian Relations from 1791 to 1810: How Slavery And Commerce Shaped American Foreign Policy
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United States-Haitian Relations from 1791 to 1810: How Slavery And Commerce Shaped American Foreign Policy
by Philip K. Abbott
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In 1789, on the eve of the French Revolution, Saint-Dominque (Haiti) was arguably the most valuable colony on earth. It was “an integral part of the economic life of the [agricultural] age, the greatest colony in the world, the pride of France, and the envy of every other imperialist nation.” Producing more sugar than all the British Caribbean islands combined, Haiti supplied over forty percent of the world’s sugar. For the United States, colonial Haiti was the second largest foreign trading partner, superseded only by Great Britain. As John Adams wrote in 1783, “[Haiti] is a part of the American system of commerce, they can neither do without us, nor we without them.” As a national commercial interest, trade with Haiti was especially important for New England merchants, where the French colony purchased sixty three percent of the dried fish and eighty percent of the pickled fish exported from the United States. It not only provided a dynamic outlet for American goods to keep the sugar plantations running, but many producers as well as shippers in America grew dependent on the island market.
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Colonel Philip K. Abbott, U.S. Army, is currently the Chief, Americas Division on the Joint Staff, J5 Strategic Plans and Policy Directorate. He received a B.A. from Norwich University, an M.A. from Kansas University, and an M.S. from the National Defense University. He served in various Command & Staff positions in the United States and Europe and worked extensively throughout Latin America as a Foreign Area Officer.
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Gangs, Netwar, and "Communiter Counterinsurgency" in Haiti
Gangs, Netwar, and "Communiter Counterinsurgency" in Haiti
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Gangs, Netwar, and "Communiter Counterinsurgency" in Haiti by David C. Becker, NDU's Prism. Here's the abstract:
Haiti, the epitome of a fragile state, has been receiving international assistance via repeated UN missions and U.S. interventions for more than 20 years. Criminal gangs exploited the country’s sovereignty gap by wresting control over territory from the state and acquiring legitimacy among certain poor populations. The gangs can be understood as a network of “violence entrepreneurs” operating within a complex environment, a system of systems within the slums. While not as sophisticated as major international criminal organizations, between 2006 and 2007 the politically connected criminal gangs constituted a major challenge for the state and the UN peacekeeping mission, as well as a threat to national stability. The U.S. Government funded an innovative and integrated effort, the Haiti Stabilization Initiative (HSI), to counter the threat by investing in an analogous but countervailing approach reinforcing “social entrepreneurs” and their networks. This supplanted undesirable feedback loop effects with ones that enhance and consolidate stability. Risky participatory and community-led stabilization interventions marginalized and undermined gangs on their home turf. Using development tools for stabilization purposes, HSI stabilization goals were political rather than “needs-based” in nature. While the flexible and comprehensive approach generated important gains, there were also lessons learned and recognition of the initiative’s limitations.
Read the full article: Gangs, Netwar, and "Communiter Counterinsurgency" in Haiti.
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How the World Came to Save Haiti and Left Behind a Disaster
A commentary on Haiti and the UN intervention, prompted by the tsunami hitting the Philippines:
US readers may appreciate this passage:
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Some aid did reach the needy in those early weeks – and it was distributed mainly by the US military. The only people I ever saw in the camps, setting up field hospitals and actually placing food and blankets in the hands of people in need, were the soldiers of the 82nd Airborne Division. They had the transport and logistics and they could take care of their own security. They also had a clear line of command and a natural focus on getting the job done.
Now back to others:
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Between 2010 and 2012, the world promised $9.3 billion for Haiti, but even on the most generous estimate, only about half of this was ever delivered.... the actual amount of humanitarian aid was $2.5 billion – or 27 per cent of the headline sum. Of this, 93 per cent did not actually enter Haiti, but went directly to the various branches of the United Nations empire or international aid agencies.
When I was in Port-au-Prince, almost 700,000 people were sleeping in the open every night because their homes had been destroyed. Astonishingly, after all the promises, about 300,000 of them are still homeless today.
Incidentally the post's title comes from a book title.
The UN undermined both public health and human rights in Haiti
Gone, maybe forgotten, but the 2010 cholera epidemic still resonates in this Open Democracy article sub-titled:
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Failing to acknowledge its involvement in the 2010 Cholera outbreak in Haiti, the UN undermined public health norms and violated the human rights standards that it asks countries to uphold.
Link:https://www.opendemocracy.net/openglobalrights/valerie-percival/un-undermined-both-public-health-and-human-rights-in-haiti?
MINUSTAH is still there, the mission started in 2004 and is due for a review in October 2016. There are now:
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4,971 total uniformed personnel, including:up to 2,370 military personnel and up to 2,601 police
Link:http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/mi...ah/facts.shtml
A Lesson On UN Peacekeeping – From Haiti
A Lesson On UN Peacekeeping – From Haiti
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'Harsh in Haiti: a light discussion'
A Lesson On UN Peacekeeping – From Haiti
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