well, maybe. But one should always be suspicious of these stories that sound sensational.

Anyway, the use of troops in Haiti is hardly something that requires an oil field.The US has been using troops in Haiti since the first world war, propping up dictators, and deposing an elected president.

In any case, they would be te there to "protect' the oil. They would be there to steal it.

The fact is, oil or not, the US cannot afford to let any Latin American state run its own affairs. That is why it has such a record of invasions and sponsored revolutions in the region.  Democracy is acceptable - but only if the government does what the US tells it to do. Otherwise, dictatorship is preferred.

The example of Cuba defying the US for fifty years and getting away with it can't be allowed to happen again  - and the example is raising hell all over latin america. The US can't allow that to happen again. That's why they invade Haiti and exiled Aristide. 

My blog on that Globe front page appears now at

http://themonctongrimes-draindrip.blogspot.com

Essentially,I accuse the Globe of lying.

I did it for Beshpin.

Damn. You're right. The site exists. I just checked it. But that particular blog has disappeared. Got to check on what happened to it.

For the first time, you have brought misery into my life.

now it's back. I must have pushed the wrong buttons.

Also got the site name mixed up. it's:

http://themonctongrimes-dripdrain.blogspot.com

Yes, a lot of deliberate misinformation is out there. I participate in rallies and/or know lots of people who do and, if these events make the news, the numbers are always, always, always, under-reported and significantly so. And then there's the slant...for example "tonight's city hall meeting drew over 50 people..." when the reality was almost 200. This happens all the time (and I not one to use "never, always, all, none", for the most part).

You're right about any country on the American continents, graeme...

Some years ago, I was covering a anglo rally against separatism at a park in downtown Montreal. The park (in two sections separated by a street) was jammed, with thousandsmore  people lined up along all streets l. Between times talking on the radio, I listened in on French CBC coverage.

"The official count of the crowd is 40,000."

The reporter working with me burst out in a string of profanity.

1. There is no such thing as an official count in Montreal. The police stopped doing that years ago.

2. Every journalist in the city knew those twin parks held 40,000 EACH. And there were many more thousands in the street who couldn't get any closer than they were.

All news media hide information or distort it. The private ones do it to satisfy ownership. The CBC does it because it's always scared of being cut. It's also very political.l In Montreal, the French part of CBC was virtually a propaganda machine for separatism. The English side sat there scared to respond for fear of the influence of Quebec in the Ottawa Liberal Party of the time.

CBC management called it "impartial" journalism.  In fact, it was journalism that was very partial - to its own skin.

Here is a different viewpoint, Graeme.

I am doing the service on Pentecost, and plan to use it as a significant portion of the sermon time

I don't doubt these words are true in the very narrow context of the relationship of the United Church to related churches in Haiti.

Haitians can hope all they like. They are not going to be allowed to choose their future. The United States has controlled that country for over eighty years by invasion, occupation and military rule, then by puppet dictators (one of them brutal by the worst standards of the world). When Haitians did try to decide for themselves, the US staged an invasion by "rebels", got UN peacekeepers sent in who, curiously, sided with the rebels. And American troops there to restore normalcy did it by forcing the elected president onto a plane.

We should, of course, help Haitians, and encourage them to hope and to build and to choose. But we should not kid ourselves about the odds. No American government will allow Haiti to rule itself. And any Canadian government in sight will support the US in this. Bear in mind that if you really mean to help Haiti, you are throwing down the gauntlet to Obama and to Harper.

In this world, you cannot be both a Christian and socially acceptable in the most exalted circles.

Canada has actively supported the American government in this agenda in recent years, long before the earthquake. RCMP officers were sent down there to assist in restabilizing the country, after the USA staged a coup to remove their democratically-elected government. Yay for us - not!

A friend just back from Haiti tells me there is no substantial reconstruction going on. And very little sign of aid. The people are desperately unhappy.

I'm afraid that's the way the US government and ours wants it.

There's a scandal in the making on US Red Cross activity (or lack of it) in Haiti, despite massive spending.

graeme

You're right about Haiti. Sean Penn  runs  a big project  there  since some months to help the Haitians. He reports his  progress on AC 360 CNN.  Early this week he said all the big monies earmarked for Haiti are stashed away for the future....??....the present day people living in hellish  circumstances  and poverty aren't being helped very much.  I don't think they ever even  received enough tents. Sean Penn doesn't want to say too much...you know.....he needs whatever support or what little he can get. I see the pictures. They speak volumes. Its incredible, unbelievable, what goes on in Haiti.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

http://dyinginhaiti.blogspot.com/2010/05/sean-penns-testimony-to-senate-foreign.html

More on Haiti and the progress being made since the earthquake:

I've been trying to get figures on the number of US and UN troops in Haiti. Apparently, there are some 15,000 troops. Why so many? Aristide had disbanded the army (which had only been used to subdue the Haitian people anyway), and the police force had been quite adequate to maintain civil order.

The "rebel" invading force seems to have been made up of soldiers from the old, dictator army. And not that many. So why does it take 15,000 peacekeepers to do the job?

As well, the American army responded very quickly to get in there, and depose Aristide. And the UN had its peacekeepers in than I have ever seen. Why?

The New York Times said they need the troops for hard fighting against huge and powerful gangsters. Oh? How come they didn't exist when Aristide was president?

This looks like a game that was planned a long time ago, just as soon as  it became clear Aristide intended to build public schools and raise the minimum wage. Our troops are not there as peacekeepers. They're there to suppress the locals, just as the old dictatorship. In fact, Haiti is back under dictatorship thinly disguised as democracy.

As for the aid, it isn't happening. They still don't even  have enough tents. And the tents that they do have are not likely to survive the hurricane season. They don't have food. They don't have water. They don't have housing. All they have is troops to keep them quiet.

In all but name, this is back to the evil days of Papa Doc. And we're a part of it.

humanitarian partners have reached the following milestones in the response:

Over 3.5 million people have received food assistance

1.3 million people have access to potable water through the installation of water points

Over 1 million people have received emergency shelter material

Some 510,000 people have benefitted from hygiene kits

More than 500,000 people (adults and children), have been vaccinated against common diseases.

See next post re U.S. pulling out. There will still be  a UN force of 12,651 there.

Excuse the format. My puter's a bit silly.

Update May 23/10 - progress in Haiti ( corpses still inside collapsed buildings)

http://dailyme.com/story/2010052300001279/haitians-rebuild.html

US troops begin  exit .  UN force in Haiti will be 12,651.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6284Z120100309

Quote:

There are now about 11,000 troops, more than half of them on ships just off the coast, down from a peak of around 20,000 on Feb. 1. The total is expected to drop to about 8,000 in coming days as the withdrawal gathers steam. The military said more than 700 paratroopers left this weekend.

Mar7 report re U.S. troops again

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2010/mar/07/most-us-troops-leaving-haiti-un-peacekeepers/

U.S. fight with Brazil...?? Old news....

http://www.brazzilmag.com/component/content/article/82-february-2010/11882-brazilian-commander-of-un-troops-in-haiti-replaced-after-fight-with-us.html

Mar.30/10

Women tear gassed by U.N. troops

http://www.mediahacker.org/2010/03/women-tear-gassed-by-un-troops-as-security-concerns-shap-aid-effort-audio/

It's pretty digusting. And the hurricane season is about to open. Good luck under those tent shelters.

Typically, huge sums of money are pledged, but are rarely fully delivered. And there are often strings. Canada, for example, might decided to make its contribution in the form of supplies made by a Canadian company friendly to Harper, and hugely overpriced.

As I've said before my sister in law is a missionary (crusader for christ) and was stationed in Haiti for a year. I can't remember exactly where but in a remote mountainous region. My wife who was only my girlfriend at the time went to visit her and stayed a week. One day they left and went out to some  local village areas and returned. One missionary stayed at the house that day. When they returned, the house had been shot up with bullets. The windows were broken, and the missionary woman was threatened at gunpoint while my wife,sister  in law and others were away. They almost attempted rape on her, demanded money and if they were hiding anything, (valuables or something) she was roughed up but luckily not raped or killed.

My wife called my mother at the airport hysterical and crying over the ordeal. When she returned she said it was only by grace they left that particular day, because the rebels never returned any other day. There was always UN peacekeepers at every place she went. At night she could hear gun fire and explosions. 

Great sun vacation destination, think I'll book a trip right away!!!!!!  

There is more violence now with the peacekeepers than there was when Aristide was president. And he had no army. We have not made Haiti safer. Obviously, we have made it far more dangerous.

As well, those figures for aid are more than a little dismaying. Helping 3,5 million with food sounds nice. But it depends on  how you calculate that. Is that the total including those who have received food only a few times in recent months? If so, that's not much aid.

Nice that they have tents. Much better if they had prebuilt shelters. It's surely amazing that a huge industrial power like the US, only a short distance away, cannot get better housing in place.

I'm afraid Haiti is in for more, much more of the same that it has been getting for the past 80 years.