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Save the 'Public Nuisance at our Door'…For the Sake of 'Our

Common Humanity'

What boggles the mind these days is that some leading powers on the
international political landscape have become (maybe overnight) the long-awaited
messiahs awaited to save this planet or some countries on it from either a political crisis
or a natural disaster; all for the sake of "our common humanity", as U.S. President Barak
Obama would say. On January 25, 2010, US magazine Newsweek carried an article by
Obama titled "Haiti and America: The work ahead", which of course focused on the U.S.
duties towards countries such as Haiti which suffered on January 12, 2010 from the
terrible consequences of a devastating earthquake which shook the every roots of Haiti.
More than 200, 000 people were killed (Padgett& Au0Prince, 2010, p. 18). However,
many questions were raised regarding the U.S. intervention in Haiti for offering aid to its
people, especially that the two countries share a history of tense Relations which Obama
(seems) to be focused on easing them … thanks to the unexpected earthquake. It is weird
that the U.S. tends sometimes to open its arms to the world only when it sees many
nations in it on the verge of collapse, and Obama (2010) clarifies this by saying: "In the
aftermath of disaster, we are reminded that life can be unimaginably cruel. That pain and
loss is so often meted out without any justice or mercy. That "time and chance" happen to
us all. But it is also in these moments, when we are brought face to face with our own
fragility, that we discover our common humanity. We look into the eyes of another and
see ourselves. And so the United States” (p.24). Obama's words are eloquent but one
should bear in mind that in this world there are endless interests which are usually
fulfilled at times of disasters and this is what Canadian journalist Naomi Klein once
called "Disaster Capitalism". I'm not saying that we are living in a callous place where
humanity is a ridiculous word, no. What I mean and what I intend to explain in the
following is that the U.S. intervention in Haiti for helping this ruined country was
typically American: Missions either to spread democracy or act for the "our common
humanity". What about what happened in East Timor? What about what is happening in
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the Gaza Strip in Palestine? In Iraq? … Yes, "common humanity". I do take into
consideration that the around 420,000 Haitians living in the US legally and the varying
numbers (some 30, 000 to 125, 000 Haitians) living illegally in the country compel the
adopted homeland (U.S.) to act during such disasters to aid its neighbor (Buschschluter,
2010). However, I surely cannot but also bear in mind the role of the U.S. in other
countries which shows that this influential country is also driven by its own interests and
the interests of its allies and not only by the passion to "act for common humanity."

Before I move forward in my discussion of Obama's article I intend to give a brief

overview of the history between Haiti and the U.S. According to Buschschluter from
BBC, "US military deployments to Haiti have been controversial to say the least, and ties
have often suffered." The two countries were born "out of a struggle against European
colonizers." In 1776 The US declared independence from Britain followed by Haiti,
which broke free from France in 1804. "Haiti's geographical proximity to the US and its
strategic location in the Caribbean sparked the interest of American administrations. In
the 19th Century, it was eyed as the location for a potential naval base. US leaders also
feared foreign occupation of the island at a time when European powers were trying to
expand their sphere of influence" (Ibid). For example in 1868, President Andrew
Johnson proposed the annexation of the whole island of Hispaniola (today Haiti and the
Dominican Republic) for the purpose of securing a US presence in the Caribbean.
Johnson's suggestion was not applied.

However, US warships were "active in Haitian waters 17 times between 1862 - when the
US finally recognized Haiti's independence - and 1915, when it occupied the country"
(Ibid). According to Buschschluter, Assistant Secretary of State Alvey Adee
summarized the way the US viewed Haiti in 1888 calling it "a public nuisance at our
door". In the following decades, Haiti became "more of a headache to its big neighbor."
In the early 20th century, President Wilson took the decision to invade Haiti for the aim of
protecting US assets and containing German influence in the region. The US forces
pulled out of Haiti in 1934 a decision which was part of President Franklin Roosevelt's
"Good Neighbour Policy" (Ibid).
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During the administration of Bill Clinton (1994) a US-led intervention force was sent to
Haiti in light of the chaos that was present in the south of the US shores and due to the
waves of refugees that were targeting the U.S. In January 2010 after the earthquake in
Haiti Obama announced that the event was "one of those moments that calls out for
American leadership". This US intervention, he stressed, would be "for the sake of our
common humanity" (Ibid). Yes, Obama's administration and many in the US were there
to help lift Haiti from its terrible crisis. Obama makes this clear when he says,"
Americans from Virginia and California and Florida have worked round the clock to save
people whom they've never met. Our soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, and Coast
Guardsmen quickly deployed to the scene. Hand in hand with our civilians, they're
laboring day and night to facilitate a massive logistical enterprise…."

This is a noble act , one would say, but why haven’t we seen the US showing its concern
to what is happening in the Gaza strip in Palestine- a territory which has been subjected
to an Israeli blockade since the Israeli war on the enclave in 2008? The U.S. is Israel's
major ally and it can do a lot to end the misery in the Gaza strip and the horrible
conditions under which people there are living. After the Israeli offensive, Gaza was in
ruins and its people were shattered, just like Haitians were when the earthquake brought
its vengeance to a stop. Yes, I forgot, Gaza is under the authority of the Islamist Hamas
organization (which the U.S. and Israel deem a terrorist organization), maybe this is the
reason why the US is not pushing its ally to end the blockade on the Gaza Strip?
Nonsense. Israel is not better than Hamas and what happened In May 2010 when the
Israeli forces attacked the "Freedom Flotilla" showed that Israel's indifference to
international law should be contained. This paper is not about the Middle East, and all I
intend to highlight here is that the U.S. is driven by its own interests and the interests of
its allies and not by the sense of common humanity which Obama excels at spreading
through his eloquent speeches.

In her book "The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism" Naomi Klein
(2007) quotes Milton Friedman, (whom according to Klein is the "grand guru of the
movement for unfettered capitalism and the man credited with writing the rulebook for
the contemporary, hypermobile global economy") as saying, " when the crisis occurs, the
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actions that are taken depend on the ideas that are lying around. That believe, is our
(U.S.) basic function: to develop alternatives to existing policies, to keep them alive and
available until the politically impossible becomes politically inevitable," (p. 6). This
means that when a crisis takes place anywhere in the world, governments should take the
opportunity and push forward their political agendas.

On January 5, 2010, English newspaper, The Telegraph, reported that France had
accused the US of "occupying" Haiti as thousands of American troops flooded into the
country to take charge of aid efforts and security. The French minister who was taking
charge of humanitarian relief called on the United Nations to "clarify" the U.S. role in
light of claims stating that the military buildup was obstructing aid efforts. According to
the daily, Alain Joyandet "admitted he had been involved in a scuffle with a US
commander in the airport's control tower over the flight plan for a French evacuation
flight." The Telegraph quoted him as saying, "This is about helping Haiti, not about
occupying Haiti." On the other hand, Bill Quigley, Director for the center for
Constitutional Rights, says in an article published by The Huffington Post that "It is time
for the people of the US to join with Haitians and reverse the course of US-Haitian
relations. This is not charity. This is justice. This is reparations. The current crisis is an
opportunity for people in the US to own up to our country's history of dominating Haiti
and to make a truly just response."

Quigley might be right and his argument can be of course taken into consideration.
Obama's article published in Newsweek is eloquent and portrayed him as a "savior who is
on a mission to scatter hope on this planet and save humanity." But I would like in this
part to make my argument clear as crystal: The U.S. had to intervene in Haiti, because if
it did otherwise then the chaos in Haiti would have crept to the U.S. and Haitian protests
would have broken out in the country (US). The U.S. did not (only) intervene for the
"sake of our common humanity". Interests come first and I think courses in international
affairs at colleges highlight this word: INTEREST.
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When Obama started appearing before the eyes of the world many saw in him, the
long-awaited leader that would save the world from the misery it has been plunged in a
long time ago. Columnist Pilar Rahola from the Barcelona daily La Vanguardia wrote, "
God save us from Obamismo, that new religion that has flooded our earthly temples with
such exaltation that it threatens to become a cosmic plague," ( Dickey, 2008, p. 28).
Indeed, Obama was seen as a messiah and many thought the U.S. administration would
witness some changes. However, up until now nothing seems to have changed and which
deserves from us to stand in awe and contemplate it (The Change). Professor Noam
Chomsky says in "Failed States" that " No one familiar with history should be surprised
that the growing democratic deficit in eth United States is accompanied by declaration of
messianic missions to bring democracy to a suffering world. Declarations of noble intent
by systems of power are rarely complete fabrication, and the same is true in this case,"
(Arnove, 2008, p. 403). Again I repeat, interests come first, before the sighs of the human
heart. It seems today that if there is a change which we can talk about then that would be
the change from missions to spread democracy to missions for offering humanitarian aid
to nuisance neighbors who threaten our interests… for the sake of our common humanity.
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References

Arnove, A. (2008). The Essential Chomsky. London: The Bodley Head.

Obama, B. (2010, January 25). Haiti and America: The Work Ahead. Newsweek, 20-21.

Dickey, C. (2008, November 24). Reflecting on Race Barriers. Newsweek, 26-30.

Klein, N. (2007). The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. New York:
Metropolitan Books.

Padgett, T. & Au-Prince, P. (2010, August 16). Wyclef Jean Enters the Race to Rescue a
Battered Haiti. TIME, 18-21.

Buschschluter, V. (2010, 16 January). The long history of troubled relations between

Haiti and the US. BBC News. Retrieved January 2, 2010, from,
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8460185.stm>

Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved January 3, 2010, from, <

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/centralamericaandthecaribbean/haiti/70209
08/US-accused-of-occupying-Haiti-as-troops-flood-in.html>

Quigley, B. ( 2010, January, 11). Why the US Owes Haiti Billions. The Huffington Post.
Retrieved January 3, 2010, from < http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-quigley/why-the-
us-owes-haiti-bil_b_426260.html>
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