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Ear to the Ground

U.N. Puts Bill Clinton in Charge of Haiti Aid

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Posted on Feb 3, 2010
World Economic Forum

The former president will oversee international aid in Haiti at the request of the United Nations. The U.N. effort has struggled after losing nearly 100 personnel, including the mission chief, to the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake. Clinton was chosen for his fundraising abilities as much as his administrative touch.

Some in the international community, notably the French, were already miffed that relief efforts were dominated by the United States military. Now the face of the international effort will not only be that of an American, but an American president. —PZS

Reuters via Washington Post:

The former president would coordinate the work of U.N. agencies, government donors, private investors and non-governmental organizations, the United Nations said.

Several diplomats said Clinton had strong backing from U.N. member states and was the right person for the job because he can combine his U.N. authority with his experience and connections in the U.S. government.

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By jack, February 5, 2010 at 5:30 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

The blame Clinton thing is not only intellectually moribund, it is disingenuous and rarely takes into account the context of rabid Republican rule within which the Clinton had to govern.

baloney - Clinton is simply the point man for the carpetbaggers to follow, all of
whom will be handily enabled by Summers’, Geitner’s and Bernake’s playmates on
Wall Street - as usual, Obama did what he was told to do - send in the Marines,
then send in Clinton to put a feel-your-pain face on the operation

as if Republicans would have done it any differently - the Left/Right shadow play
is only there to distract and confuse - major global corporatists and finance
oligarchs will be into this for big returns

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By moni, February 5, 2010 at 10:28 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

The first disaster was the earthquake;  the second one is Clinton & Co.

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By jack, February 5, 2010 at 1:53 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

you’re all spot on mates - the unending buggering of the Haitians is at hand vis-à-vis one more installment of Disater Capitalism and Billy Boy is the bugger du
jour… bloody hell!!

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By ofersince72, February 4, 2010 at 4:27 pm Link to this comment

Why not Aristide???

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By Xntrk, February 4, 2010 at 4:09 pm Link to this comment

If the UN wants to help the Haitians, they’d put Cuba in charge of the recovery. It is the Cubans who are doing the real work of helping the poor and making sure they have health care and disaster relief.

The independent US Doctors and Nurses who showed up to help, stayed no longer than 2 weeks, and went back home. US Military Doctors are stationed off-shore. The Cubans have been supplying Health Care and Education to Haiti since 2004, FREE.

The Cubans are also supplying tents and building tent cities for the homeless and displaced. Cuba has little money, but much experience dealing with disasters.

Also, check out the new English Language Venezuelan weekly newspaper:

http://centrodealerta.org/documentos_desclasificados/correo_del_orinoco_internat_2.pdf

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By exo, February 4, 2010 at 12:52 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

God help us with all this sheer(no pun intended) paranoia floating about at the
mention of the name Clinton. And what, pray tell, has fellow “brother” Obama done
to help the Haitians except send in the troops to prepare the way for a corporate
takeover. Why no hand wringing or breast beating over this? former President
Clinton is just that, a former President turned UN envoy. Obama on the other hand
runs one of the most powerful states on earth, he is the man of the moment. Why
the reluctance to critically and honestly examine Obama? The blame Clinton thing
is not only intellectually moribund, it is disingenuous and rarely takes into account
the context of rabid Republican rule within which the Clinton had to govern.

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By VIncent Reginalds, February 4, 2010 at 10:37 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

Millions have lost everything in the quake – homes, food, jobs! For the next 12 months, the World Food Programme says 2 million people will need critical food assistance! If you want to help and learn more about the crisis response, go to: http://wfp.org/crisis/haiti> or you can text FRIENDS to 90999 to make a $5 donation.

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By Vic Anderson, February 4, 2010 at 8:56 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

What a perverse UN reinforcement of Clintonanism with Billary bringing himself
Michelangelically into existence as savior: the first “black” head of Haiti (with Bush
as his white shadow). O, the Obamanation of it all (“JUST SEND CASH” wink    - W.

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Ouroborus's avatar

By Ouroborus, February 4, 2010 at 6:04 am Link to this comment

Shazam, some things just never change.
Power is as power does,
Power clings to past glories,
Power’s illusion never fades,
Because power begets power,
And power past knows power present,
And fuels power’s future.
We of common presence,
Have lost our power,
Always to be the victim,
Of power present and future.

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By kw, February 4, 2010 at 5:55 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

Besides the blight that Clinton brought to Hait during his administration, there is another reason he and the US are so interested in “helping” Haiti.
I wonder why none of the alternative news in the US has covered something as important as why we have 30,000 military personnel and more in Haiti.
Please read William Engdahl’s well documented article entitled “The Fateful Geopolitical Prize Called Haiti” at
http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=17287

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By idarad, February 4, 2010 at 5:42 am Link to this comment

Clinton should be given a one way ticket to the Hague (and his entourage must include the two Bushes he hid behind).  I keep thinking it can’t get any worse, than I wake up and…. da dah - there’s somethig even dumber than yesterday.

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By johannes, February 4, 2010 at 3:07 am Link to this comment

Its a pitty that I am not a Christian, other wise I chould pray for the Haïtians, to geth skinned by your bad neighbour, their is not an worst scenario to be had.

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By lichen, February 3, 2010 at 9:48 pm Link to this comment

Yeah, I can’t imagine how upset informed Haitians must be right now—members of the popular movement for social justice that weren’t killed by the US/UN forces in the last fourteen years—that yet again the same damn people who destroyed their ability for democracy, food, a better quality of life…are there again to profit off of disaster.

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By Dayahka, February 3, 2010 at 7:56 pm Link to this comment

Bill Clinton? In charge? What next, put Palin in charge of proper English sentence construction?

And what’s Clinton going to do beyond administer? Where are the funds going to go? Are they going to re-build Port-au-Prince as a mini Miami where no ordinary Haitian can afford to live? Are Americans going to run everything? Is appropriate technology going to be introduced there, such as technology from India, or is this going to be US-centric—and a howling disaster, as usual? Is Clinton there to warm the country up to becoming a US military base, a step-place for a Venezuela invasion? Or is this going to be just another way to fleece a poor country of its possible oil wealth—pay the natives next to nothing to do the work, while selling the oil to the US?

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By Geez Jan, February 3, 2010 at 6:42 pm Link to this comment

Great! Hey, if Vietnam were to suffer some natural disaster, perhaps we can get
Henry Kissinger to lead the aid effort, right? Brilliant!

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By Basoflakes, February 3, 2010 at 6:15 pm Link to this comment

Neither the French nor the United States should have anything to do with the recovery of Haiti except forgiving their debt and repaying the $20 Billion owed to them for their repayment to France/USA for freeing themselves from SLAVERY, for God’s sake.

The US, for its role in placing the Duvaliers in power for 30 years and removing Aristide, a priest to boot, should never be allowed near Haiti except to send them their money owed.

Just ask Chile after Allende’s removal, Indonesia after Sukarno’s, Guatamala after Guzman’s or Iran after Mossedeque what a great steward the United States turned out to be.

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