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Realpolitik in Haiti

I watched Meet the Press yesterday with Presidents Clinton and Bush talking about raising money for Haiti.  At one point, David Gregory asked one of them why we should be helping Haiti given our current disastrous financial situation.  It’s a very good question.

On the one hand, we must help Haiti for the simple reason that they are fellow humans in need.  We have the means to help and we should for pure humanitarian reasons.  It’s the same reason we helped in Asia after the tsunami and have helped other nations in times of disaster.  We help because it’s what good people do. 

On the other hand, there are some very specific realpolitik reasons to help Haiti.  The country is our neighbor.  Countries like Venezuela and Cuba are fighting aggressively to woo countries into their Marxist fold and foster anti-Americanism.  Even further, China and Russia would like to have a presence in America’s sphere of influence.  If America had chosen to stand aside, those other countries would sweep in and turn Haiti against us for possibly decades to come.  Even as it is, those nations are pouring aid into Haiti in an effort to gain a foothold. 

So… I encourage everyone to donate personally to the relief of Haiti because they are fellow humans in trouble and good people are compelled by conscience to do good deeds.  And I encourage our nation to expend resources (within reason) to assist Haiti because we must secure our influence in a neighboring country.  In either case, our obligation is clear: we must help the people of Haiti.

Posted by Owen at 1209 hrs
Foreign Affairs + Politics + Politics - General

1. Huh?

   Russia abandoned Cuba a long time ago.  They’ve got all sorts of problems.  Do you really believe they want Haiti?

   The Chinese certainly don’t want Haiti.  They want Taiwan. 

   Venezuela’s plate is already full with plenty of domestic troubles.  They would choke on Haiti.

   On the best day of its existence Haiti was a failed nation.  Now look at it.  Nobody wants Haiti.

   Posted by Swamp Gas on January 18, 2010 at 1501 hrs
   
   
   

2. Swamp Gas-

   The Chinese certainly don’t want Haiti.  They want Taiwan.

   Venezuela’s plate is already full with plenty of domestic troubles.  They would choke on Haiti.

   On the best day of its existence Haiti was a failed nation.  Now look at it.  Nobody wants Haiti.

   It sounds like you’re a kid playing Risk, here. On the other hand, Owen’s post indicates a thoughtful mind at work on a legitimate question.

   Hmmm…

   Posted by Mike on January 18, 2010 at 1553 hrs
   
   
   

3. http://forums.military.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/69719858/m/3540004242001

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on January 18, 2010 at 1636 hrs
   
   
   

4. An economically stable Haiti is a strong trading partner for the US.

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on January 18, 2010 at 1849 hrs
   
   
   

5. Haiti has not been economically stable in any of our lifetimes… nor stable in any other way either. The place is a mess of gangs, corruption, and lack of basic infrastructure.

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on January 18, 2010 at 1941 hrs
   
   
   

6. The other night on O’Reilly, Bill said “Well, the United States has given Haiti $100 million in pledged aid.  The Chinese have had a very inadequate response donating only $1 million so far”

   I wish I could have piped in and said “Bill, no, the Chinese have given $101 million, we’ve given zero.”

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on January 18, 2010 at 2119 hrs
   
   
   

7. John wrote: “An economically stable Haiti is a strong trading partner for the US.”

   HA!! Good one John. You’re showing your “intelligence training” once again. Fact is The Family Guy’s post is the actuality of the matter. Haiti is, and never will be anything more than a welfare nation.

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on January 18, 2010 at 2121 hrs
   
   
   

8. Care to clarify Steve A? Seems you’ve missed what’s going on with American based relief efforts.

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on January 18, 2010 at 2129 hrs
   
   
   

9. Amount that the United States has pledged to aid Haiti :

   $100 million.

   Amount that the United States has pledged to buy the vote of Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana on the health care bill:

   $300 million

   ...and the left says that Limbaugh is stingy.

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on January 18, 2010 at 2233 hrs
   
   
   

10. My point is that the $100 million we’ve committed (which will probably grow to a $5 Billion before this is over after you account for military support) is coming from money we don’t have.

    We are borrowing every dime we spend these days from the Chinese (among others).  Literally.

    With no China around, we don’t have $100 million to give Haiti.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on January 18, 2010 at 2320 hrs
    
    
    

11. Very well stated and I whole heartedly agree. It used to be where our Government used to give the American taxpayer’s money away like there was no tomorrow. Now that we’re bankrupt they’re giving our creditor’s money away in the same zealous fashion.

    For the Billion or so we’ve already invested in Haiti prior to this disaster IMHO, it has been a grand waste of effort because the nation has been on the brink of collapse since it’s founding. We are going to see a vast difference between the ability of Haitians to recover from this disaster in comparison to how the Indonesians recovered for theirs.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on January 18, 2010 at 2354 hrs
    
    
    

12. i’m not a big fan of Laura Ingraham, but she’s been on fire on the cable talk shows the last week pointing out that all the great things we are doing in Haiti can only be done by an economically strong superpower. 

    If we don’t fix things at home, we will be broke and not able to do any of these things in the future. 

    How much of this relief effort is a result of having the best armed forces in the world?  A lot of it.  But as we saw with the Soviet Union 25-years ago, if your economy goes in the tank, you can’t even afford the defense spending budget, much less all the other crap we spend money on.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on January 19, 2010 at 0843 hrs
    
    
    

13. It should be smart investment, with the US government assisting US companies to invest in Haiti and providing Haiti the tools to fuel economic development.  There should be investment in infrastructure and provide a market for both US goods and Haitian goods in both places.  It definitely should not be just a blank check.  More of the same will continue to undermine US security in its own backyard.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on January 19, 2010 at 1304 hrs
    
    
    

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