home

Hillary Arrives in Haiti

By Jeralyn, Section Foreign Affairs
Posted on Sat Jan 16, 2010 at 02:05:54 PM EST
Tags: Haiti, Hillary Clinton (all tags)
Share This: Digg! StumbleUpon del.icio.us reddit reddit

Hillary Clinton has arrived in Haiti. It's not clear if she's going to speak right away. More here.

20,000 bodies have been recovered so far, according to the Haitian Government. The medical situation remains dismal.

Update: MSNBC says she will be speaking at the airport (where she will be for four hours) and it will air her remarks live. Her plane brought supplies and will bring about 50 Americans home. She is the most senior U.S. official to visit Haiti since the earthquake.

< The Right Flank Of The Dem Party | The Fate of Haiti's Children >

  • The Online Magazine with Liberal coverage of crime-related political and injustice news

  • Contribute To TalkLeft


    • Display: Sort:
    Hillary Arrives in Haiti | 19 comments (19 topical)

    Readers Must Login or Create an Account to Comment

    A sidebar about security, aid and disaster relief (5.00 / 1) (#18)
    by Ellie on Sun Jan 17, 2010 at 10:46:33 AM EST
    Well known, far-reaching and experienced NGOs (like the Red Cross and MSF/Doctors without Borders) have the experience and means to provide security with their aid. They minimize the risks for the workers and recipients of aid that otherwise would be prey to the inevitable opportunistic criminals, like kidnappers and strife-lords stealing supplies for re-sale to the desperate.

    SoS Clinton's appearance at the airport saves time, money and most importantly, lives, by providing safe passage for Americans out of Haiti.

    UN Sec'y Ban Ki-Moon summed it up better here. Note that key UN personnel in Haiti, including the acting Police Commissioner, were among the appalling death toll.

    GWB's admins turned the US State Dept and other liaisons (eg FEMA) for aid into a dumping ground for cronies (recall Katrina/NOLA for how that continues to play out).

    I'm glad to see GWB working with fmr Pres. Clinton and SoS Clinton on this.

    why, exactly? (2.25 / 8) (#1)
    by diogenes on Sat Jan 16, 2010 at 03:31:52 PM EST
    Hillary has to be fed and guarded; I don't think that she is such a figure of hope to the Haitian people that her photo-op is worth the resources it is taking up.  The only person in the US political system whose immediate presence in Haiti would electrify the people enough to be worth the resource expenditure is Barack Obama...and he is in Massachusetts campaigning for Martha Coakley.

    Wow. (5.00 / 2) (#3)
    by nycstray on Sat Jan 16, 2010 at 03:38:14 PM EST
    Forget your CDS meds today?

    Parent
    who are you directing that to? (none / 0) (#4)
    by Jeralyn on Sat Jan 16, 2010 at 03:44:09 PM EST


    Parent
    Not you! (none / 0) (#5)
    by nycstray on Sat Jan 16, 2010 at 03:51:14 PM EST
    but feel free to delete.

    I just thought D's remark was off base, and not in an uninformed way . . .

    Parent

    Doesn't the "Parent" button answer ... (none / 0) (#7)
    by cymro on Sat Jan 16, 2010 at 04:09:51 PM EST
    ... your question -- for any comment? The "parent" link is the direct result of initiating a comment by clicking on the "Reply" button.

    I don't understand how you can perceive any ambiguity regarding this, especially when you helped to design the blog in the first place.

    Parent

    The parent link isn't present in all views (none / 0) (#10)
    by Manuel on Sat Jan 16, 2010 at 05:22:00 PM EST
    If you want to see all comments in order of arival a flat view without parents is best.  I usually stick to the tree view since thankfully I don't have to see all comments.

    Parent
    While I disagree with the OC (none / 0) (#20)
    by Socraticsilence on Sun Jan 17, 2010 at 02:57:49 PM EST
    I think they do have a point, given the entourage of a SOS, is it really worth it- I mean its' been noted that the airports are horrible right now and this will tie them up like Bush in NO post-Katrina.

    Parent
    Read up on the reasons she is there (5.00 / 10) (#6)
    by Cream City on Sat Jan 16, 2010 at 04:03:26 PM EST
    as Secretary of State (not just as a longtime visitor to Haiti since her honeymoon decades ago).

    Are you reading up to know that even Obama could not reach the president of Haiti for three days?  That only yesterday were the Haitian officials finally willing to yield control of the damaged airport, after its staff was so overwhelmed that  aid could not be landed for hours, so that the U.S. could straighten it out (as it has done today).

    I have read in several sources that the power plays for control and the difficulties of communication are the reasons that it was decided that the Secretary of State would go there in person to get agreement from the Haitian president and others for better cooperation and coordination of relief.  And the reason that she is going no farther than the airport -- where the Haitian president has been since the collapse of the palace, parliament, etc. -- is exactly because of the security needs, to minimize those, much as Clinton may wish to go beyond the tarmac.

    Jeesh, read up and then react.  This is not esoteric information difficult to find, if you really do care about the Haitian situation.  Or maybe you had some other motivation here?

    Parent

    You guessed it (5.00 / 1) (#8)
    by