From: Al-Kurdi Husayn <husayn_2000@yahoo.com>
Date: Sun, 17 Jan 2010 05:36:52 -0800 (PST)
Subject: [bangla-vision] FYI: The Militarization of Emergency Aid to Haiti
To: Husayn Al-Kurdi <husayn_2000@yahoo.com>
As you will see from Chossudovsky' s piece below, there is nothing
humanitarian about U.S. military involvement in Haiti. It's all about
geo-politics and countering Cuba's and Venezuela's real humanitarian
efforts (Cuba had 400 doctors in Haiti prior to the earthquake).
Similarly, Jordan's involvement in Haiti is part of the U.S. global
strategy, just like it is in Iraq and Afghanistan. And there is no Al
Qaeda in Haiti either!
AN Moderators
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The Militarization of Emergency Aid to Haiti: Is it a Humanitarian
Operation or an Invasion?
By Michel Chossudovsky
URL of this article: www.globalresearch. ca/index. php?context= va&aid=17000
Global Research, January 15, 2010
Haiti has a longstanding history of US military intervention and
occupation going back to the beginning of the 20th Century. US
interventionism has contributed to the destruction of Haiti's national
economy and the impoverishment of its population.
The devastating earthquake is presented to World public opinion as the
sole cause of the country's predicament.
A country has been destroyed, its infrastructure demolished. Its
people precipitated into abysmal poverty and despair.
Haiti's history, its colonial past have been erased.
The US military has come to the rescue of an impoverished Nation. What
is its Mandate?
Is it Humanitarian Operation or an Invasion?
The main actors in America's "humanitarian operation" are the
Department of Defense, the State Department and the U.S. Agency for
International Development (USAID). (See USAID Speeches: On-The-Record
Briefing on the Situation in Haiti, 01/13/10). USAID has also been
entrusted in channelling food aid to Haiti, which is distributed by
the World Food Program. (See USAID Press Release: USAID to Provide
Emergency Food Aid for Haiti Earthquake Victims, January 13, 2010)
The military component of the US mission, however, tends to overshadow
the civilian functions of rescuing a desperate and impoverished
population. The overall humanitarian operation is not being led by
civilian governmental agencies such as FEMA or USAID, but by the
Pentagon.
The dominant decision making role has been entrusted to US Southern
Command (SOUTHCOM).
A massive deployment of military hardware personnel is contemplated.
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen has
confirmed that the US will be sending nine to ten thousand troops to
Haiti, including 2000 marines. (American Forces Press Service, January
14, 2010)
Aircraft carrier, USS Carl Vinson and its complement of supporting
ships has already arrived in Port au Prince. (January 15, 2010). The
2,000-member Marine Amphibious Unit as well as and soldiers from the
U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne division "are trained in a wide variety of
missions including security and riot-control in addition to
humanitarian tasks."
In contrast to rescue and relief teams dispatched by various civilian
teams and organizations, the humanitarian mandate of the US military
is not clearly defined:
โ€�Marines are definitely warriors first, and that is what the world
knows the Marines for,... [but] we're equally as compassionate when we
need to be, and this is a role that we'd like to show -- that
compassionate warrior, reaching out with a helping hand for those who
need it. We are very excited about this.โ€� (Marines' Spokesman,
Marines Embark on Haiti Response Mission, Army Forces Press Services,
January 14, 2010)
While presidents Obama and Prรฉval spoke on the phone, there was no
discussions between the two governments, regarding the entry and
deployment of US troops on Haitian soil. The decision was taken and
imposed unilaterally by Washington. The total lack of a functioning
government in Haiti was used to legitimize, on humanitarian grounds,
the sending in of a powerful military force, which has de facto taken
over several governmental functions.
TABLE 1
US Military Assets to be Sent to Haiti. (according to official announcements)
The amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD 5) and amphibious dock
landing ships USS Fort McHenry (LSD 43) and USS Carter Hall (LSD 50).
A 2,000-member Marine Amphibious Unit from the 22nd Marine
Expeditionary Unit and soldiers from the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne
division. 900 soldiers are slated to arrive in Haiti by January 15th.
Aircraft carrier, USS Carl Vinson and its complement of supporting
ships. (arrived in Port au Prince on January 15, 2010): USS Carl
Vinson CVN 70
The hospital ship USNS Comfort
Several U.S. Coast Guard vessels and helicopters
USS Carl Vinson
The three amphibious ships will join aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson,
guided-missile cruiser USS Normandy and guided-missile frigate USS
Underwood.
USS Normandy
Leading Role of US Southern Command
US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) with headquarters in Miami is the "lead
agency" in Haiti. Its mandate as a regional military command is to
carry out modern warfare. Its stated mission in Latin America and the
Caribbean is "to conduct military operations and promote security
cooperation to achieve U.S. strategic objectives." (Our Mission - U.S.
Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) The commanding officers are trained to
oversee theater operations, military policing as well
"counterinsurgency" in Latin America and the Caribbean, including the
recent establishment of new US military bases in Colombia, within
proximity of the Venezuelan border.
General Douglas Fraser, commander of U.S. Southern Command has defined
the Haiti emergency operation as a Command, Control, Communications
operation (C3). US Southern Command is to oversee a massive deployment
of military hardware, including several warships, an aircraft carrier,
airborne combat divisions, etc:
"So we're focused on getting command and control and communications
there so that we can really get a better understanding of what's going
on. MINUSTAH [United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti], as their
headquarters partially collapsed, lost a lot of their communication,
and so we're looking to robust that communication, also.
We're also sending in assessment teams in conjunction with USAID,
supporting their efforts, as well as putting in some of our own to
support their efforts.
We're moving various ships that we had in the region -- they're small
ships, Coast Guard cutters, destroyers -- in that direction, to
provide whatever immediate assistance that we can on the ground.
We also have a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, the USS Carl Vinson, moving
in that direction. It was at sea off of Norfolk, and so it's going to
take a couple of days for it to get there. We need to also just
resupply it and give it the provisions it needs to support the effort
as we look at Haiti. And then we're looking across the international
agencies to figure out how we support their efforts as well as our
efforts.
We also are looking at a large-deck amphibious ship with an embarked
Marine Expeditionary Unit on it that will be a couple of days behind
the USS Vinson.
And that gives us a broader range of capability to move supplies
around, to have lift capability to help support the effort there also.
So bottom line to it is, we don't have a clear assessment right now of
what the situation on the ground is, what the needs within
Port-au-Prince are, how extensive the situation is.
We also, finally, have a team that's headed in to the airport. From my
understanding -- because my deputy commander just happened to be in
Haiti when this situation happened, on a previously scheduled visit.
He has been to the airport. He says the runway is functional but the
tower doesn't have communications capability. The passenger terminal
-- has structural damage to it, so we don't know what the status of it
is.
So we have a group going in to make sure we can gain and secure the
airfield and operate from it, because that's one of those locations we
think we're going to have a lot of the immediate effort from an
international basis going into.
And then we're out conducting all the other assessments that you would
consider appropriate as we go in and work this effort.
We're also coordinating on the ground with MINUSTAH, with the folks
who are there. The commander for MINUSTAH happened to be in Miami when
this situation happened, so he's right now traveling back through and
should be arriving in Port-au-Prince any time now. So that will help
us coordinate our efforts there also, because again, obviously the
United Nations suffered a significant loss there with the collapse --
at least partial collapse of their headquarters.
So that's -- those are the initial efforts that we have ongoing And as
we get the assessments of what's coming next, then we'll adjust as
required.
The secretary of Defense, the president, have all stipulated that this
is a significant effort, and we're corralling all the resources within
the Department of Defense to support this effort." (Defense.gov News
Transcript: DOD News Briefing with Gen. Fraser from the Pentagon,
January 13, 2010)
A Heritage Foundation report summarizes the substance of America's
mission in Haiti: "The earthquake has both humanitarian and U.S.
national security implications [requiring] a rapid response that is
not only bold but decisive, mobilizing U.S. military, governmental,
and civilian capabilities for both a short-term rescue and relief
effort and a longer-term recovery and reform program in Haiti." (James
M. Roberts and Ray Walser, American Leadership Necessary to Assist
Haiti After Devastating Earthquake, Heritage Foundation, January 14,
2010).
At the outset, the military mission will be involved in first aid and
emergency as well as public security and police activities.
US Air Force Controls the Airport
The US Air Force has taken over air traffic control functions as well
as the management of Port au Prince airport. In other words, the US
military regulates the flow of emergency aid and relief supplies which
are being brought into the country in civilian planes. The US Air
Force is not working under the instructions of Haitian Airport
officials. These officials have been displaced. The airport is run by
the US Military (Interview with Haitian Ambassador to the US R.
Joseph, PBS News, January 15, 2010)
"The FAA's team is working with DOD combat controllers to improve the
flow of air traffic moving in and out of the airport. The US Air Force
reopened the airport on 14 January, and on 15 January its contingency
response group was granted senior airfield authority ... Senior
airfield authority enables the Air Force to prioritise, schedule and
control the airspace at the airport, ..." (flightglobal. com, January
16, 2010, emphasis added)
The 1,000-bed U.S. Navy hospital ship, USNS Comfort, which includes
more than 1,000 medical and support personnel has been sent to Haiti
under the jurisdiction of Southern Command. (See Navy hospital ship
with 1,000 beds readies for Haiti quake relief, Digital Journal,
January 14, 2010). There were, at the time of the Earthquake, some
7100 military personnel and over 2000 police, namely a foreign force
of over 9000. In contrast, the international civilian personnel of
MINUSTAH is less than 500. MINUSTAH Facts and Figures - United Nations
Stabilization Mission in Haiti
TABLE 2
United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH)
Current strength (30 November 2009)
9,065 total uniformed personnel
7,031 troops
2,034 police 488 international civilian personnel
1,212 local civilian staff
214 United Nations Volunteers
MINUSTAH Facts and Figures - United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti
Estimated combined SOUTHCOM and MINUSTAH forces; 19,095*
*Excluding commitments by France (unconfirmed) and Canada (confirmed
800 troops), the US, France and Canada were "partners" in the February
29, 2004 Coup d'ร�tat.
Haiti has been under foreign military occupation since the US
instigated February 2004 Coup d'Etat. The contingent of US forces
under SOUTHCOM combined with those of MINUSTAH brings foreign military
presence in Haiti to close to 20,000 in a country of 9 million people.
In comparison in Afghanistan, prior to Obama's military surge,
combined US and NATO forces were of the order of 70,000 for a
population of 28 million. In other words, on a per capita basis there
will be more troops in Haiti than in Afghanistan.
Recent US Military Interventions in Haiti
There have been several US sponsored military interventions in recent
history. In 1994, following three years of military rule, a force of
20,000 occupation troops and "peace-keepers" was sent to Haiti. The
1994 US military intervention "was not intended to restore democracy.
Quite the contrary: it was carried out to prevent a popular
insurrection against the military Junta and its neoliberal cohorts."
(Michel Chossudovsky, The Destabilization of Haiti, Global Research,
February 29, 2004)
US and allied troops remained in the country until 1999. The Haitian
armed forces were disbanded and the US State Department hired a
mercenary company DynCorp to provide "technical advice" in
restructuring the Haitian National Police (HNP). (Ibid).
The February 2004 Coup d'ร�tat
In the months leading up to the 2004 Coup d'Etat, US special forces
and the CIA were training death squadrons composed of the former
tonton macoute of the Duvalier era. The Rebel paramilitary army
crossed the border from the Dominican Republic in early February 2004.
"It was a well armed, trained and equipped paramilitary unit
integrated by former members of Le Front pour l'avancement et le
progrรจs d'Haiti (FRAPH), the "plain clothes" death squadrons,
involved in mass killings of civilians and political assassinations
during the CIA sponsored 1991 military coup, which led to the
overthrow of the democratically elected government of President Jean
Bertrand Aristide." (see Michel Chossudovsky, The Destabilization of
Haiti: Global Research. February 29, 2004)
Foreign troops were sent into Haiti. MINUSTAH was set up in the wake
of the US sponsored coup d'Etat in February 2004 and the kidnapping
and deportation of the democratically elected president Jean Bertrand
Aristide. The coup was instigated by the US with the support of
France and Canada.
The FRAPH units subsequently integrated the country's police force,
which was under the supervision of MINUSTAH. In the political and
social disarray triggered by the earthquake, the former armed militia
and Ton Ton macoute will be playing a new role.
Hidden Agenda
The unspoken mission of US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) with
headquarters in Miami and US military installations throughout Latin
America is to ensure the maintenance of subservient national regimes,
namely US proxy governments, committed to the Washington Consensus and
the neoliberal policy agenda. While US military personnel will at the
outset be actively involved in emergency and disaster relief, this
renewed US military presence in Haiti will be used to establish a
foothold in the country as well pursue America's strategic and
geopolitical objectives in the Caribbean basin, which are largely
directed against Cuba and Venezuela.
The objective is not to work towards the rehabilitation of the
national government, the presidency, the parliament, all of which has
been decimated by the earthquake. Since the fall of the Duvalier
dictatorship, America's design has been to gradually dismantle the
Haitian State, restore colonial patterns and obstruct the functioning
of a democratic government. In the present context, the objective is
not only to do away with the government but also to revamp the mandate
of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), of
which the headquarters have been destroyed.
"The role of heading the relief effort and managing the crisis quickly
fell to the United States, for lack -- in the short term, at least --
of any other capable entity." ( US Takes Charge in Haiti _ With
Troops, Rescue Aid - NYTimes.com, January 14, 2009)
Prior to the earthquake, there were, according to US military sources,
some 60 US military personnel in Haiti. From one day to the next, an
outright military surge has occurred: 10,000 troops, marines, special
forces, intelligence operatives, etc., not to mention private
mercenary forces on contract to the Pentagon.
In all likelihood the humanitarian operation will be used as a pretext
and justification to establish a more permanent US military presence
in Haiti.
We are dealing with a massive deployment, a "surge" of military
personnel assigned to emergency relief.
The first mission of SOUTHCOM will be to take control of what remains
of the country's communications, transport and energy infrastructure.
Already, the airport is under de facto US control. In all likelihood,
the activities of MINUSTAH which from the outset in 2004 have served
US foreign policy interests, will be coordinated with those of
SOUTHCOM, namely the UN mission will be put under de facto control of
the US military.
The Militarization of Civil Society Relief Organizations
The US military in Haiti seeks to oversee the activities of approved
humanitarian organizations. It also purports to encroach upon the
humanitarian activities of Venezuela and Cuba:
"The government under President Renรฉ Prรฉval is weak and literally
now in shambles. Cuba and Venezuela, already intent on minimizing U.S.
influence in the region, are likely to seize this opportunity to raise
their profile and influence... " (James M. Roberts and Ray Walser,
American Leadership Necessary to Assist Haiti After Devastating
Earthquake, Heritage Foundation, January 14, 2010).
In the US, the militarization of emergency relief operations was
instigated during the Katrina crisis, when the US military was called
in to play a lead role.
The model of emergency intervention for SOUTHCOM is patterned on the
role of NORTHCOM, which was granted a mandate as "the lead agency" in
US domestic emergency procedures.
During Hurricane Rita in 2005, the detailed groundwork for the
"militarization of emergency relief" involving a leading role for
NORTHCOM was established. In this regard, Bush had hinted to the
central role of the military in emergency relief: "Is there a natural
disaster--of a certain size--that would then enable the Defense
Department to become the lead agency in coordinating and leading the
response effort? That's going to be a very important consideration for
Congress to think about." (Statement of President Bush at a press
conference, Bush Urges Shift in Relief Responsibilities -
washingtonpost. com, September 26, 2005).
"The response to the national disaster is not being coordinated by the
civilian government out of Texas, but from a remote location and in
accordance with military criteria. US Northern Command Headquarters
will directly control the movement of military personnel and hardware
in the Gulf of Mexico. As in the case of Katrina, it will override the
actions of civilian bodies. Yet in this case, the entire operation is
under the jurisdiction of the military rather than under that of
FEMA." (Michel Chossudovsky, US Northern Command and Hurricane Rita,
Global Research, September 24, 2005)
Concluding Remarks
Haiti is a country under military occupation since the US instigated
Coup d'Etat of February 2004.
The entry of ten thousand heavily armed US troops, coupled with the
activities of local militia could potentially precipitate the country
into social chaos.
These foreign forces have entered the country to reinforce MINUSTAH
"peacekeepers" and Haitian police forces (integrated by former Tonton
Macoute), which since 2004, have been responsible for war crimes
directed against the Haitian people, including the indiscriminate
killing of civilians.
These troups reinforce the existing occupation forces under UN mandate.
Twenty thousand foreign troops under SOUTHCOM and MINUSTAH commands
will be present in the country. In all likelihood, there will be an
integration or coordination of the command structures of SOUTHCOM and
MINUSTAH.
The Haitian people have exhibited a high degree of solidarity, courage
and social commitment.
Helping one another and acting with consciousness: under very
difficult conditions, in the immediate wake of the disaster, citizens
rescue teams were set up spontaneously.
The militarization of relief operations will weaken the organizational
capabilities of Haitians to rebuild and reinstate the institutions of
civilian government which have been destroyed. It will also encroach
upon the efforts of the international medical teams and civilian
relief organisations.
It is absolutely essential that the Haitian people continue to
forcefully oppose the presence of foreign troops in their country,
particularly in public security operations.
It is essential that Americans across the land forcefully oppose the
decision of the Obama adminstration to send US combat troops to Haiti.
There can be no real reconstruction or development under foreign
military occupation.
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ยฉ Copyright Michel Chossudovsky, Global Research, 2010
The url address of this article is: www.globalresearch. ca/index.
php?context= va&aid=17000
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