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Post by webm@ster on Jan 24, 2010 18:03:39 GMT -5
..........Already, as the tragedy in Haiti continues to unfold, there have been pockets of harsh criticism of America's efforts to help. French Cooperation Minister Alain Joyandet alluded to the United States "occupying" Haiti instead of assisting it. It is not the first time the United States has been chastised, and it will not be the last. The history of the U.S. involvement in Haiti has not always been a happy or unsullied one. But perhaps we can take just a moment to think about the honor that is inherent in being the ones who, at junctures like this one, are counted on -- the ones who show up, every time. During World War II, those four words -- "The Americans are coming" -- referred to the armed forces who had traveled across the ocean to liberate the people the Nazis had enslaved. In times of natural disaster, the context is different. In Haiti the words refer to the 82nd Airborne, yes, but they also refer to the American doctors who are volunteering their time and risking their own safety to soothe the pain of people they had never before met. The words refer to the American volunteers assisting at Haitian orphanages, not giving up on the children who have no families to comfort them. The words refer to the American search-and-rescue teams who work past the point of exhaustion as they seek signs of the living among the rubble, and they refer to the Americans back home who, during difficult economic times in the U.S., have donated their money to help people who, for now, have no way to say thank you. The focus of the news will shift soon enough -- that shift has already started. There will be other crises, other major stories. We, as a country and as individuals, will continue to be imperfect. There will be political squabbles and high-decibel partisan fights. We will at times focus on the trivial and the coarse. At such times, we might do well to pause and recall the sound of those four words. And to let the words remind us that, when we set our souls to it, we still can aspire to be the hope of the world. www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/01/23/greene.haiti.american.aid/index.html?hpt=C1
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Post by NYR on Jan 24, 2010 20:36:29 GMT -5
no offense to our french friends on this forum, but the french should be the last to complain about haiti being "occupied" by anybody else. either way, someone should show this prick joyandet this video:
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Post by halftheworld on Jan 26, 2010 14:26:03 GMT -5
that criticism is absolutely stupid.
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