HAITI

[PurpleHeather]

I have just received the following and can not confirm it's authenticity.


> To All;
>
> I just returned from Haiti with Hebler. We flew in at 3 AM Sunday to the scene of such incredible destruction on one side, and enormous ineptitude and criminal neglect on the other.
>
> Port of Prince is in ruins. The rest of the country is fairly intact. Our Team was a rescue team and we carried special equipment that locates people buried under the rubble. There are easily 200,000 dead, the city smells like a charnel house. The bloody UN was there for 5 years doing apparently nothing but wasting US Taxpayers money. The ones I ran into were either incompetent or outright anti American. Most are French or French speakers, worthless every d**n one of them. While 18oo rescuers were ready willing and able to leave the airport and go do our jobs, the UN and USAID (another organization full of little OBamites and Communists that openly speak against America) these two organizations exemplared their parochialism by:
>
> USAID, when in control of all inbound flights, had food and water flights stacked up all the way to Miami, yet allowed Geraldo Rivera, Anderson Cooper and a host of other left wing news puppies to land.
>
> Pulled all the security off the rescue teams so that Bill Clinton and His wife could have the grand tour, whilst we sat unable to get to People trapped in the rubble.
>
> Stacked enough food and water for the relief over at the side of the Airfield then put a guard on it while we dehydrated and wouldn't release a drop of it to the rescuers.
>
> No shower facilities to decontaminate after digging or moving corpses all day, except for the FEMA teams who brought their own shower and Decon equipment, as well as air conditioned tents.
>
> No latrine facilities, less digging a hole if you set up a shitter everyone was trying to use it.
>
> I watched a 25 year old Obamite with the USAID shrieking hysterically, berate a full bird colonel in the air force, because he countermanded her orders, whilst trying to unscrew the air pattern. "You don't know what your president wants! The military isn't in charge here we are!"
>
> If any of you are thinking of giving money to the Haitian relief, or to the UN don't waste your money. It will only go to further the goals of the French and the Liberal left.
>
> If we are a fair and even society, why is it that only white couples are adopting Haitian orphans. Where the hell is that vocal minority that is always screaming about the injustice of American society.
>
> Bad place, bad situation, but a perfect look at the new world order in action. New Orleans magnified a thousand times. Haiti doesn't need Democracy, what Haiti needs is Papa Doc. That's not just my opinion, that is what virtually every Haitian we talked with said. the French run the UN, treat us the same as when we were a colony, at least Papa Doc ran the country.
>
> Oh, and as a last slap in the face the last four of us had to take US AIRWAYs home from Phoenix. They slapped me with a 590 dollar baggage charge for the four of us. The girl at the counter was almost in tears because she couldn't give us a discount or she would lose her job. Pass that on to the flying public.
>
> Nick
>
> Chris W. Boyles DCO (Medical)
> (757) 443-5682  Fax: (757) 443-5699
> christopher.boyles1@navy.mil

[PurpleHeather]

[ACE]

I done a bit of googling and such. I would not believe a word of it. Someones sick sense of humour. :(

[OllieC]

If it wasn't for the poor taste, the suggestion that democracy is in some way a "liberal left" conspiracy would be laughable. At best this is an angry rant from someone tired & angry at the near helplessness of the situation (and it therefore lacks any rationality & should be ignored); at worst it is, as ACE says, someones sick sense of humour (& should be ignored).

[GrannieAnnie]

"Much of the U.S. government's aid to Haiti comes through the U.S. Agency for International Development, which has provided at least $800 million from budget years 2004 through 2008, agency figures show. " 

With corruption rife it would be very interesting to see exactly what has happened to those $800 million in the past. It seems like nothing ever changes in Haiti's status.

[emmy1978]

I've been really sickened by the reports of 10 Americans arrested for attempted child smuggling/kidnap. It's so awful to think that for some people a disaster like this presents an opportunity to do something so horrendous. Not go out and help but go out and steal children. It's just terrible. I hope they get tried in Haiti.

[GrannieAnnie]

I've been really sickened by the reports of 10 Americans arrested for attempted child smuggling/kidnap. It's so awful to think that for some people a disaster like this presents an opportunity to do something so horrendous. Not go out and help but go out and steal children. It's just terrible. I hope they get tried in Haiti.

This news article puts quite a different spin on it (though the "business" woman leading it sounds like she is used to skirting the law), however further down in the article she and a Haitian began working towards starting an orphanage before the earthquake.
"Group leader Laura Silsby has said they were trying to take orphans and abandoned children to an orphanage in the neighboring Dominican Republic. She acknowledged they had not sought permission from Haitian officials, but said they just meant to help victims of the quake.

A CBS News employee who witnessed today's court proceedings says Silsby told the judge: "We were trying to do what's best for the children."

When the judge asked, "Didn't you know you were committing a crime?" Silsby quietly answered, "We are innocent."

But CBS News correspondent Bill Whitaker reports there are serious questions tonight about Silsby's motives. The 40-year-old business woman, who convinced members of Idaho's Central Valley Baptist Church to follow her dream of an orphanage in Haiti, has a troubling financial history.

She's been the subject of eight civil lawsuits, 14 for unpaid wages, Whitaker reports. Her Meridian, Idaho house is in foreclosure. She's had at least nine traffic citations in the last 12 years including four for failing to register or insure her car.

The children taken from the group, ranging in age from 2 to 12, were being cared for at the Austrian-run SOS Children's Village in Port-au-Prince on Wednesday.

The U.S. citizens, most of them members of an Idaho-based church group, were whisked away from the closed court hearing to jail in Port-au-Prince, the capital. Silsby waved and smiled faintly to reporters but declined to answer questions.

Coq said that under Haiti's legal system, there won't be an open trial, but a judge will consider the evidence and could render a verdict in about three months.

Coq said a Haitian prosecutor told him the Americans were charged because they had the children in their possession. No one from the Haitian government could be reached immediately for comment.

Each kidnapping count carries a possible sentence of five to 15 years in prison. Each criminal association count has a potential sentence of three to nine years.

Coq said that nine of the 10 knew nothing about the alleged scheme, or that paperwork for the children was not in order.

"I'm going to do everything I can to get the nine out," Coq said. That would still leave mission leader Laura Silsby facing charges.

State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said in Washington the U.S. was open to discuss "other legal avenues" for the defendants - an apparent reference to the Haitian prime minister's earlier suggestion that Haiti could consider sending the Americans back to the United States for prosecution.

Several parents of the children in Callebas, a quake-wracked Haitian village near the capital, told The Associated Press Wednesday they had handed over their children willingly because they were unable to feed or clothe their children and the American missionaries promised to give them a better life.

Their accounts contradicted statements by Silsby, of Meridian, Idaho.

In a jailhouse interview Saturday, Silsby told the AP that most of the children had been delivered to the Americans by distant relatives, while some came from orphanages that had collapsed in the quake.

"They are very precious kids that have lost their homes and families and are so deeply in need of, most of all, God's love and his compassion," she said.

In Callebas, parents said a local orphanage worker, fluent in English and acting on behalf of the Baptists, had convened nearly the entire village of 500 people on a dirt soccer field to present the Americans' offer.

Isaac Adrien, 20, told his neighbors the missionaries would educate their children in the neighboring Dominican Republic, the villagers said, adding that they were also assured they would be free to visit their children there.

Many parents jumped at the offer.

Adrien said he met Silsby in Port-au-Prince on Jan. 26. She told him she was looking for homeless children, he said, and he knew exactly where to find them.

He rushed home to Callebas, where people scrape by growing carrots, peppers and onions. That very day, he had a list of 20 children.

As they loaded children onto a bus in Callebas on Jan. 28, the Americans took down contact information for all the families and assured them a relative would be able to visit them in the Dominican Republic.

The Americans' journey began last summer after Silsby and her former nanny, 24-year-old Charisa Coulter, resolved to establish an orphanage for Haitian children in the Dominican Republic. Coulter is among the jailed Americans.

They began buying up used clothing and collecting donations from their Central Valley Baptist Church in Meridian and in November, Silsby registered the New Life Children's Refuge Inc., the nonprofit organization coordinating the rescue mission. It listed the address of her now-foreclosed home in Meridian as its headquarters.

Then the quake hit. Silsby and Coulter moved into high gear, gathering donations and assembling a team to go into Haiti and urgently take out children, the younger woman's father, Mel Coulter, told the AP from his home in Kuna, Idaho.

The group packed 40 plastic bins of donated goods into a U-Haul trailer and drove to Salt Lake City on Jan. 22, where they took a flight to the Dominican Republic. They made their way to Haiti, where four days later, they were introduced to Adrien.

Adrien, who had served as the go-between and translator for the missionaries, said he had no knowledge of the group's larger plans; villagers said they were told none of their children would be offered for adoption.

A Haitian-born pastor who said he worked as an unpaid consultant for the group insisted the Baptists had done nothing wrong.

The Rev. Jean Sainvil said some of the children were orphans and might have been put up for adoption. Children with parents were to be kept in the Dominican Republic, and would not lose contact with their families, Sainvil said in Atlanta.

"Everybody agreed that they knew where the children were going. The parents were told, and we confirmed they would be allowed to see the children and even take them back if need be," he said.

Sainvil stressed that in Haiti it is not uncommon for parents who can't support their children to send them to orphanages.

Even Prime Minister Max Bellerive has said he recognized the Americans may simply have been well-meaning who believed their charitable Christian intent justified trying to remove the children from quake-crippled Haiti.

Only minutes before the charges, the Americans' Dominican lawyer, Jorge Puello, had said he expected at least nine of the 10 to be released and said he was arranging a charter flight for them from Santo Domingo, the Dominican capital.

After the Haitian lawyer's announcement, Puello could not be reached by telephone for comment.

"I'm at the airport (in Santo Domingo) and we're getting the plane ready. We're just waiting for the green light," Puello said. "I spoke to a source inside the jail - a government official - who said nine would be released but one would be held for further investigation."

[.]

  2x  
 
"  I have just received the following and can not confirm it's authenticity.  "


Chris W  ??                                                         ( YRWTF W?)  

[Digeroo]

I was abroad when the quake occurred.  I was able to see the news from several different sources.  It was very interesting to see the different spins being put on the same facts.

The French were accusing the US of not allowing their aid flights containing urgently needed Medical personnel to land.

Meanwhile the US sources were saying that the commitment to Haiti would be an 'investment' for the future.  They also verbally patted themselves on the back very thoroughly for their efforts.

Meanwhile the locals were expressing concerns about aid convoys driving through and not stopping.

I would like to help the Haitians but having seen conflicts openly aired on the worlds media I feel very concerned about what will happen to donations.

It would not surprise me if anything was true about what is going on.

[Biscombe]

I'm organising a play-a-thon in school for Haiti on Tuesday I'm hoping to raise up to 3000 Euros at. The school is linked to UNICEF but I'm hoping that the money will go to a more direct route to help rebuilding. Reading this thread I'm not sure at all!

[GrannieAnnie]

I was abroad when the quake occurred.  I was able to see the news from several different sources.  It was very interesting to see the different spins being put on the same facts.

The French were accusing the US of not allowing their aid flights containing urgently needed Medical personnel to land.

Meanwhile the US sources were saying that the commitment to Haiti would be an 'investment' for the future.  They also verbally patted themselves on the back very thoroughly for their efforts.

Meanwhile the locals were expressing concerns about aid convoys driving through and not stopping.





[/quote That's odd- what we saw in the US coverage were unending news account of American teams totally frustrated that they couldn't get in there to do anything- even a team of surgeons were sitting on their hands in a set-up hospital without any patients able to be transported to them. And Americans stating their supplies were stockpiled at the airport but no way set up by the Haitian govt to get them out to the people often due to security issues. Lots of international help available but the Haitian infrastructure and govt-planning just non-existent.  What a horror to live in a third world country.

[gwynnethmary]

I'm organising a play-a-thon in school for Haiti on Tuesday I'm hoping to raise up to 3000 Euros at. The school is linked to UNICEF but I'm hoping that the money will go to a more direct route to help rebuilding. Reading this thread I'm not sure at all!

Hope your kids have a great time on Tuesday helping the kids of haiti!  Bless you!

[Uncle Joshua]

Has anyone bought the charity single? I just did.

[emmy1978]

I don't know if that did put a different spin on it. I'm not convinced that anyone would think it was ok just to go over and start taking children to a dominican orpanage-the people there live in abject poverty too. How do you convince nine other people that it's ok, you don't need permission and you can just take kids because you're helping????
They would need a cover story surely? This kidnapping of children happens every time there is a disaster like this. It happened when the tsunami hit too. :(

I haven't bought the single Mick -  I don't need to hear a great song being murdered to add to my misery!!

There was also a news segment where a Haitian man reported aid not coming out even though they have seen it be delivered. The journalist said they had had reports that US troops were sorting themselves out first.  ???

[Jeannine]

This new stuff  is all a bit unreal to us here.. we are still waiting for news of missing relatives, hope is fast fading for Ed's  other sister and her children.

Now  Canada is being a bit sticky about allowing us to bring folks over. Ed can bring his 87 year old father who survived and then Dad in turn can bring his daughter,son and their children(his grandchildren) who are of course Ed's sister, brother and nieces and nephews,who survived, but Ed cannot bring them  directly himself, only his Dad. Without Dad who is reluctance to come over the rest of the family will not be allowed to come despite the fact that the others are very keen as their house was flattened.

So everyone here is getting quite upset., especially as we are still waiting for the news of thr last sister.

XX Jeannine

[OllieC]

I haven't bought the single Mick -  I don't need to hear a great song being murdered to add to my misery!!

I'm with you there!
It's a bit of an insensitive choice of song isn't it? Sure, everybody might hurt.... sometimes, sometimes everybody hurts... but I very much doubt that the type of self-indulgent emotional suffering that Mr Stipe was referring to (and that we can afford to have in the Western world) is comparable to the pain of your house landing on top of you and crushing your legs which then have to be amputated without anaesthetic, leaving the stumps to rot because of a shortage of penicillin, poisoning you as it spreads through the rest of your body and eventually causing you to bleed to death through all of your orifices.

[emmy1978]

Oh Jeannine-how awful. The politics is unbearable, as is the wait for news. I'm thinking of your family, XxX

Ollie-yes I do think it's insensitive. I hate "charity" singles and concerts anyway. It's just raising the profile of cretins at a time when they should be the last thing on our minds. There was a programme about the making of the last Band Aid release where Sir Bob got his pack of idiots, sorry, stars to watch the video, the one with all the children starving that I was raised on...half of them hadn't ever seen it. I mean, I'm only 31! If I remember it surely they should-where have they been?

[betula]

What song would you have chosen Ollie??

Fact is it will raise millions of pounds towards the relief fund  :)

[OllieC]

What song would you have chosen Ollie??

Fact is it will raise millions of pounds towards the relief fund  :)

Having had a quick look at a few cd's here, there isn't much that could do it justice. I think something new could have been written fairly easily though...

[GrannieAnnie]

An interesting cost factoid:

A system of 3 Southern Florida hospitals have treated 137 quake victims. Forty-two have been children. Seventy were Haitian nationals and 39 were U.S. citizens.

Fifty-five percent do not have insurance. So far, those patients have run up $2.3 million in charges.
And that was the cost only for 137!

I'm sure this tab would not have covered the flight costs either.

I wouldn't quibble about any organization or talent group who is willing to raise money or give aid!

And by the way, they are still having quakes in Haiti and the other islands the past few days so aid workers are really at risk themselves.

[emmy1978]

I'm happy for others to buy charity singles etc if that is how they want to give. It gets people to donate who may not otherwise so it is a good thing but just not for me. I like my music too much.  ;D
I am also fully supportive of ground level aid workers who are in there helping and making a difference. I met a guy who had been a fundraiser for a large charity (he wouldn't say who) He left that job because he became incredibly disheartened by the petty bureaucracy and rivalry between charities. It's a shame that everyone seems to be working at loggerheads.  ???