WHEN THE EARTH MOVES
Sources:
U.S. takes control of Haiti
'We are the only ones who can get things done'
Caro Leitor por favor use a tradução automática
disponível à direita desta página
Stewart Stogel
UNITED
NATIONS – Informed U.S. State Department sources
tell WND that Washington has taken de-facto control
of earthquake-ravaged Haiti.
"USAID
has now taken control [of Haiti]," said one source.
"We [the U.S.] are the only ones who can get things
done."
Vice
President Joe Biden told reporters at Homestead Air
Force Base, Fla., where relief efforts are underway,
that Haiti is a nation "that has totally collapsed."
Secretary
of State Hillary Clinton was the first White House cabinet
member to arrive on the scene. She made a brief tour
of the Port au Prince region on Saturday.
U.N.
relief efforts, however, have been criticized as "disorganized"
and "haphazard" by U.S. sources.
The
U.N.'s Haiti operations center was destroyed in last
week's quake. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's special
representative, Hedi Annabi, who remained "missing"
more than four days later, was found dead Saturday.
Annabi was believed to be in the complex at the time
of the quake.
In
a statement released Saturday evening, Ban called Annabi
the "gold standard" of international civil
servants.
UNICEF,
which operated separately from the U.N. system, saw
its headquarters survive, but was also severely impacted
because many of its personnel were in the field at the
time of the quake. A substantial number of those still
remain unaccounted for.
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U.S.
sources confirm to WND that Haitian relief efforts could
easily surpass $1 billion in the next few months, much
of that aid being financed by Washington.
The
U.N. has already announced a $550 million international
emergency fundraising drive.
Not
only could the rescue and rebuilding efforts reach billions
of dollars, but they could also take years to accomplish.
U.S.
sources point out that even today, more than four years
later, New Orleans is still rebuilding from Hurricane
Katrina.
Meanwhile, in a hasty publicity move, Ban Ki-moon will
fly this weekend for a brief one-day "tour"
of Haiti.
It
is not clear what Ban can do. U.N. sources tell WND
that Ban will not venture beyond a few miles from Port
au Prince airport.
He
has no intention of trying to reach the city of Jacmel,
which sources say is in worse shape than Port au Prince.
Ban's
special Haitian envoy, Bill Clinton, elected not to
accompany the U.N. chief to Port au Prince. Speculation
says that Hillary did not want to be "upstaged"
by the former president.
Meanwhile,
U.N. sources admit that part of the problem that now
exists in Haiti squarely falls on the United Nations
and the international community.
Virtually
nothing of substance has been done to build a credible
infrastructure in Haiti since the military government
of Gen. Raul Cedras was overthrown by the Clinton administration
military invasion in 1994.
More
than 20,000 U.S. troops participated in the 1994 naval
and air campaign.
The
U.S. forced Cedras to flee the country, but since, Haiti
has seen its "elected" governments vacillate
between Jean Betrand Aristide and his political nemesis
Rene Preval, resulting in a near political paralysis.
Preval
saw his presidential palace collapse last week, fled
to the Port au Prince airport (where he now resides)
and has only made some carefully orchestrated "trips"
into the city.
Preval,
it was pointed out by U.S. officials, is president of
a government that does not exist.
Coincidentally,
CNN showed video on Friday of a collapsed and deserted
Haitian parliament building.
Of
more immediate concern is the expected influx of Haitian
refugees into the U.S.
"Months
and years" of continuous U.S. aid to Haiti was
mentioned by President Barack Obama at the White House
on Saturday. Obama announced that former presidents
George W. Bush and Bill Clinton will lead U.S. fundraising
efforts to aid displaced Haitians. For President Bush,
it was his first return to the White House since leaving
office a year ago.
"They
[Bush and Clinton] will send an unmistakable message
to the Haitian people," Obama explained.
"We
are in it for the long haul," Biden added. "It
is going to take years."
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