US military to enforce state of emergency in Haiti

[Hannah Bell]

The Haitian government declared a state of emergency on Monday, six days after a magnitude 7.0 earthquake laid waste to much of the nation and its capital, Port-au-Prince, killing at least 200,000, according to the latest estimate.

The state of emergency creates martial law conditions that will be enforced by the US military. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had demanded the imposition of the emergency decree during her visit to Haiti on Saturday. “The decree would give the government an enormous amount of authority, which in practice they would delegate to us,” Clinton declared.

In spite of the unfolding humanitarian disaster, the US media has increasingly shifted its focus to “the security situation” in Haiti, as the Post put it. In tones reminiscent of its coverage of the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in 2005, the US media is now replete with references to “looters,” “gangs,” and “street violence.”

The EU increased its aid to Haiti to $500 million, five times larger than the US donation of $100 million. The International Monetary Fund also offered a new $100 million loan, which, according to Richard Kim of the Nation, likely includes wage cuts for public sector workers as a stipulation. These loans and donations are smaller than thousands of personal fortunes in the US and Europe.

In contrast to the parsimonious reaction of the world’s governments, working people in the US have donated a record amount of money. Relief organizations describe an “outpouring” of donations, mostly of small quantities, that handily eclipsed the records established in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. As of Saturday, $200 million had been raised among 25 charities contributing to relief operations in Haiti, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy. Only $43 million came from corporate donors.

“You’ve got a bad economy and a disaster outside of the US,” said Stacy Palmer, editor of the Chronicle of Philanthropy. “It makes sense that lots of people gave to the Katrina disaster in the US, but to give outside of the US like this is remarkable, especially at a time with 10 percent unemployment.”

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/jan2010/hait-j19.shtml

[dflprincess]

1. " Only $43 million came from corporate donors"

Well, it's an election year, they have campaigns to finance and politicians to buy.

:sarcasm:

[alittlelark]

5. That is 1/2 the bonus of ONE high up bankster.

my head hurts....

[msongs]

2. tell the IMF fo F+++ off and die nt

[leftstreet]

3. “We don’t need military aid. What we need is food and shelter,”

“We don’t need military aid. What we need is food and shelter,” a man yelled at UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as he visited Port-au-Prince.

No Shit

[niyad]

4. to stacy palmer--that is because people care--governments don't.

(well, except for that one country that measures gross domestic happiness)

I watched part of DN tonight--listening to amy in haiti, and remarked to a friend that listening to her, and listening to the msm, sounded like they were covering two entirely different disasters. she was talking about how the haitians are looking after each other, protecting each other, caring for each other, finding shelter, food, protection. all we hear from the msm is about looting and violence. sickening, just sickening.

[lunasun]

6. Lets have the people's 'small but many 'donations

be such a big part of relief that Haiti can tell IMF where to put that $1mil loan !