The United States in Haiti: A Question of Leadership

To see their president appear so often on their screens, Americans might well believe the disaster occurred on their own soil. Within three days of the earthquake in Haiti, President Barack Obama multiplied White House statements, sent 10,000 soldiers and one aircraft carrier equipped with 19 helicopters, and made $100 million available. The navy was asked to work miracles. The hospital ship Comfort, a colossus equipped with twelve operating rooms, has never been ready this fast. In less than 48 hours, it raised anchor and set out for Port-au-Prince, where it was expected to arrive on Wednesday, January 20.

Barack Obama immediately took matters into his own hands – instinctively, one might almost say. He nominated the brand new head of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Rajiv Shah — a young doctor of Indian origin — as coordinator, but it is he who declared the situation “a priority,” so much so as to warrant keeping the secretaries of defense and foreign affairs in Washington even though they had been expected in Australia for a summit on Afghanistan and the fight against terrorism.

Mr. Obama also dispatched one of his closest collaborators, Dennis McDonough, to Port-au-Prince to coordinate the communication effort. It is true that evening news anchors were also landing in Haiti. (“On which flight?” some would ask.)

Lightning Speed Reaction Well-Received in the United States

Did the Obama administration jump the gun? Did it unduly rush in? This is no doubt the opinion of those — French, Italian, Brazilian — whose relief airplanes were diverted to other nearby airports in the region by Americans who, by definition, thought they were doing the right thing even though they had not been appointed by any higher authority.

In the daily USA Today on Monday, Jan. 19, U.S. Air Force specialists related how they had landed at the airport 24 hours after the earthquake. It was chaos. The control tower was damaged. “We went to see the pilots and we told them, ‘Hey, we are U.S. Air force combat controllers. We are taking control of the airport.’,” said Sergeant Chris Grove.

No sooner said than done. Americans are not blind to the reproach levied against them that they first evacuated their own compatriots and favored military flights over relief efforts; in other words, security over humanitarian aid. But everything has fallen into place, they maintain. U.S. Army flights are now scheduled at night.

As for other equipment, priorities are determined “by the Haitian government.” And, during her visit there, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton signed an agreement with President René Préval to formalize the occupation of the airport. The meeting took place in the hangar “seized” by Chris Grove and since transformed into the American H.Q.

For Americans, Haiti is as much a national security imperative as a humanitarian one. With each twitch affecting the Caribbean, and especially Cuba, they fear an exodus that would send hundreds of thousands of boat people toward Florida, a mere 1,200 km away.

To justify his commitment to Haiti, Barack Obama also added a moral imperative in the name of the “common humanity” shared by all people of Earth. For the image Americans have of themselves, and for the the one that their neighbors have of them, it is necessary to help save Haiti, he said. It is a question of leadership.

Even if the two situations have nothing to do with one another, the parallel with Hurricane Katrina has been drawn in his favor — and to the great satisfaction of the White House. The swift reaction of the president – one half hour after learning of the earthquake, he was already issuing a statement — was well received in the United States, with few exceptions.

The most acerbic criticism came from Rush Limbaugh, the extreme-right radio announcer, who accused him of pandering to the African-American community at a time when it is feeling neglected by its “post-racial” president.

A Long and Often Turbulent History

Haiti has maintained a long, often turbulent, history with the United States ever since the first campaign of July 1915, decided by Woodrow Wilson – the precursor to armed interventions led in the name of promoting democracy (the occupation lasted nineteen years).

The United States “came back” in 1994, when Bill Clinton got it into his head to restore Father Jean-Bertrand Aristide to power, the victim of a coup d’etat. Then, in 2004, to oust the same Aristide, now a bloody dictator. Each time, the U.S. Army served as an advanced unit of the multinational U.N. force.

Seized by the ambition to “do good,” this time, the Obama administration promises a long-term commitment to end a chronic ill. At a time when two wars are draining their resources, it is hard to accuse Americans of pretending to attempt a new “occupation.”

If the U.N. had had air traffic controllers in Port-au-Prince the day after the earthquake, Sergeant Chris Grove would not have to police the skies of Haiti.