Canada's Aid to Haiti - 2 Vessels, Air Support, 1500 troops

Very welcome:)  With this and the Afghanistan mission we are bulked out.

For a nation of 31 million, the response is enormous and it was fast.  It was also nice to see Mr. Harper and Layton cooperate.

Yes the response of the US has been immense along with the fundraising effort of Bush 43 and Clinton.

Thank you for saying so snuffy. 

The United States have a long history in messing up Haiti, they did not like Aristide  for instance and plunged the country into another disaster whose consequences are in part responsible for the extend this new disaster is taking. The US in order to get Aristide out, since they could not control him nor prevent Aristide’s landslide victory, he who went from a slum priest to presidential candidate and this in spite of a background of right-wing death squads and threatened military coups. He rose quickly in the eyes of Haitians, but his stock plummeted in the United States. The New York Times, which relies heavily on informants who can speak English or French, had few kind words for him. ‘He’s a cross between the Ayatollah and Fidel,’ one Haitian businessman was quoted as saying. ‘If it comes to a choice between the ultra-left and the ultra-right, I’m ready to form an alliance with the ultra-right.’ Haitians knew, however, that Aristide would win any democratic election, and on 16 December 1990, he got 67 per cent of the vote in a field of 12 candidates. No run-off was required. but there was plenty they did do to undermine him. The most effective method, adopted by the first Bush administration, was to fund both the opposition – their poor showing at the polls was no reason, it appears, to cut off aid to them – and the military. Declassified records now make it clear that the CIA and other US groups helped to create and fund a paramilitary group called FRAPH, which rose to prominence after a military coup that ousted Aristide in September 1991. Thousands of civilians were killed and hundreds of thousands fled overseas or across the border into the Dominican Republic. For the next three years Haiti was run by military-civilian juntas as ruthless as the Duvaliers.

Now the US control the Airport and refuse to submit to the UN or operate under the UN. Causing grief and despair for the people the most vulnerable.

Why? just so China and other would not be able to become the Haitian favourite saviours? Fearing that Haiti may after all still become another Cuba that would bring food and education to the masses and outs US military Imperialism and abusive land owners.

Thanks for the updates snuffy.  The fact that there is friction, is in some way understandable.  With the influx of flights and limited parking and landing capacity, some flights have to be diverted to the Dominican Republic.

Having said that, Canada has reporters on the ground and they haven't really complained about this too much. 

There is a multitude of media that rushed into Haiti and I suspect a lot of them had to be diverted to the Dominican Republic and then take the long road into Port au Prince.

I would think that water and food would be a major priority right now and medical attention.

Prioritzing flights, is no doubt, very challenging.  That is not necessarily a job I would want.  The fact is the U.S. has been granted control of the airport by the Haitian government and someone has to run the airport. They're damned if they do and damned if they don't.