Apocalypse Now

Climatologists predict a heavier-than-usual hurricane season this year. A massive killer earthquake was not enough for Haiti; nature may have another devastation in store for this tiny island nation. As time runs out for Haitians who may have been buried alive in the rubble, as anarchy reigns supreme and folks struggle to find potable water, food, clothing and shelter – often without luck – it seems that the people are clamoring for what they see as their only hope – takeover by a richer and more powerful United States. For all practical purposes, the major political force on the Haitian side of Hispaniola is the U.S. military. But is an economically impaired America even remotely in a mood to take over an entire impoverished nation? Imagine the claims of U.S. imperialism if we did.

Reports of shootings, looting and wanton criminal activity are accelerating as hopeless appears to be the continuing national pastime. Theft, armed robbery and rape are commonplace, and gangs have taken over entire sections of the capital city, Port-au-Prince, filling the political vacuum of a collapsed government.

PoliticsDaily.com (February 1^st): “Things are beginning to fray in post-apocalypse Haiti as grim reality sets in. The magnificent international relief effort, while heart-warming, can't reach everyone, and those who can be reached are fed or sheltered only temporarily. The day-by-day struggle for life's basics seems to stretch out indefinitely into the future, for a people traumatized by having lost nearly everything in the sudden violence of the earthquake and its aftermath…. Too grim a picture? Perhaps, but take a cue from the paratroopers of the 2^nd Battalion Combat Team, 82^nd Airborne. Among its 3,000 soldiers are many veterans of grueling combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. They are a hard-bitten and normally boisterous lot. Riding back from a mission, they sit in stunned silence. ‘A lot of my guys are going to need help when we get home,' a young officer [said sadly].”

All totaled, Americans have donated half a billion dollars to various campaigns dedicated to helping Haitians survive and rebuild. But roads are often impassable, water mains and sewer lines remain totally out of service, sewage and garbage create challenges to those trying to stem the obvious disease that spreads under such conditions, buildings continue to collapse and people need to resupply almost immediately after each load of donated materiel is distributed; it’s a bottomless pit of desperation. There is no accurate total on those who have lost their lives, but the estimates are staggering and threatening to grow as disease and starvation take new lives.

Pre-earthquake unemployment was absurdly high, but the number of people with no work and no way to earn even the smallest sum in the quake’s aftermath is an almost insurmountable barrier. Commodities, basics, are almost all imported… even water. Given that the relief effort will eventually diminish, how will those who survive… well… survive? Americans are a generous lot, willing to lend a helping hand to those people in need, but in this perilous economy, will the pain of Haiti slip out of our consciousness as the routine of decimated Haitian lives slips out of the daily headlines?

The reality seems to be that the relief effort is not nearly enough. The February 8^th Washington Post: “Nearly one month after a powerful earthquake brought this country to a halt, Haiti is tumbling headlong through a crisis that has not begun to abate, with evidence everywhere that current relief efforts are falling short… Despite the good intentions of the United States and the world community, weary relief workers say the coming weeks will severely test the resolve of those foreign contributors and the resourcefulness of a Haitian government that remains all but invisible.

“Pressure will grow on a fledgling food distribution network backed by U.S. soldiers that so far has largely managed to deliver only rice. From surgery to shelter to sanitation to schooling, the needs are vast and the international commitment unproven… ‘The need is so overwhelming. You can't have an initial push, and then it stops. That just won't be enough,’ Lane Hartill, an Africa-based Catholic Relief Services staff member, said as he walked toward a sweltering encampment of 30,000 people who have spent every hour outdoors since the Jan. 12 earthquake…The sadness is sometimes suffocating, yet the agony of last month's earthquake is being overtaken by the urgency of now. Every day, tens of thousands of Haitians face a grueling quest to find food, any food. A nutritious diet is out of the question.”

Even those crappy Somali pirates are getting into the act, playing Robin Hood and offering to “redistribute” some of their pirated booty to those suffering in Haiti… we most certainly can’t be outdone by generous bandits! Time for “Relief Effort, Part 2,” followed by parts 3, 4, 5, 6, etc.

I’m Peter Dekom, and I certainly hope we don’t give up.