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According to Director Randy McGorty of Catholic Legal Services for the Archdiocese of Miami in a February 2009 statement, it reflects "policy toward Haiti....based on racism. It's shocking. People (lack everything and) are starving. This callous disregard for human life is inexplicable," in commenting on how bad conditions were a year ago following the devastating summer 2008 storms.
Funding Wars, Not Haitian Relief
Will Obama pay greater heed now? If so, he didn't show it by immediate, decisive action on day one, the most critical moment to do it, by authorizing massive amounts of humanitarian aid and teams of skilled professionals to deliver it en masse.
Instead, according to the Washington Post on January 13, he'll "ask Congress for an additional $33 billion to fight unpopular wars in Afghanistan and Iraq on top of a record $708 billion for the Defense Department next year...."
In his first year in office, top priorities have been imperial wars, proxy ones in numerous countries, a new front in Yemen, militarizing Latin America mostly targeting Venezuela's Chavez, banker bailouts, a coup against the democratically elected Honduran leader, supporting Israeli crimes of war and against humanity, destabilizing Iran, tougher enforcement of homeland police state measures, and neglecting vital people needs. Can Haitians expect better?
Haiti is ill-equiped for natural disasters, let alone one of this magnitude. Heavy rescue equipment to clear debris is unavailable unless brought in, so rescuers are forced to dig through rubble with small implements and their bare hands, and can't reach people buried under collapsed buildings or trapped inside them.
Despite the calamity, televangelist Pat Robertson, founder of the Christian Coalition and notorious bigot, blamed Haitians for the it, saying on his January 13 Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) program:
"Something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and the people might not want to talk about it. They were under the heel of the French....and they got together and swore a pact to the devil. The said, 'We will serve you if you'll get us free from the French.' True story. And so the devil said, 'OK, it's a deal.' Ever since, they have been cursed by one thing after another."
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