The New Dark Age

21 January, 2010

US to increase troops in Haiti by a third as rescue teams pull back 21 Jan 2010
The US is to send another 4,000 troops to Haiti to assist the earthquake relief effort in its third troop surge to the devastated country. The move, which will increase the number of US troops involved in the huge aid effort to 16,000, will mean diverting Marines who were to be deployed in the Gulf and Africa. The surge will comprise a three-ship unit of 1,700 sailors and 2,300 Marines, the US Defence Department announced today, joining the 12,000 troops already there.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article6996246.ece

US to send 4,000 extra troops to Haiti 20 Jan 2010
The US is sending another 4,000 sailors and marines to Haiti for the earthquake relief effort, diverting them from deployments in the Gulf and Africa. The 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit and USS Nassau Amphibious Ready Group would “significantly” increase the ability to quickly provide aid, the navy said. The move will increase the number of US troops involved to about 16,000.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8471460.stm

Haiti: Schoolgirl killed by police for [alleged] looting 21 Jan 2010
While the images of survivors being pulled alive brought joy and hope, there was further heartbreak on the capital’s streets after a girl of 15 was shot dead as a suspected looter. Fabienne Geismar had survived the quake which devastated the family home but died in its aftermath, lying face down in her own blood beside the rubble and the worthless pictures she was said to have been stealing. Her father Osam, sister Samantha and brother Jeff had watched helpless as she was cut down by a bullet… It is unclear whether police deliberately aimed at looters who had targeted properties destroyed in the earthquake, or had been firing warning shots over their heads.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1244660/Haiti-earthquake-Schoolgirl-looter-Fabienne-Geismar-killed-bullet-head.html

Crisis of the one million Haitian orphans as Unicef warns the devastation has jumped to ‘unbearable proportions’ 19 Jan 2010
The first of Haiti’s evacuated orphans have arrived in the US to begin new lives, according to reports. However aid groups fear as many as one million more on the island have been left without one or both parents following the last week’s devastating earthquake. Just 26 children who cleared the process before the disaster struck have been taken out of the country – but Unicef has warned the scale of the crisis has jumped to ‘unbearable proportions’.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1244339/Crisis-million-Haitian-orphans–emerges-26-left-island-earthquake-claimed-200-000-lives.html

SOUTHCOM ‘went live’ with disaster drill for Haiti when earthquake hit 15 Jan 2010
On Monday, Jean Demay, DISA’s [Defense Information Systems Agency] technical manager for the agency’s Transnational Information Sharing Cooperation project, happened to be at the headquarters of the U.S. Southern Command in Miami preparing for a test of the system in a scenario that involved providing relief to Haiti in the wake of a hurricane. After the earthquake hit on Tuesday, Demay said SOUTHCOM decided to go live with the system. On Wednesday, DISA opened up its All Partners Access Network, supported by the Transnational Information Sharing Cooperation project, to any organization supporting Haiti relief efforts. The information sharing project, developed with backing from both SOUTHCOM and the Defense Department’s European Command, has been in development for three years.
www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20100115_9940.php

US to send 4,000 extra troops to Haiti 20 Jan 2010
The US is sending another 4,000 sailors and marines to Haiti for the earthquake relief effort, diverting them from deployments in the Gulf and Africa. The 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit and USS Nassau Amphibious Ready Group would “significantly” increase the ability to quickly provide aid, the navy said. The move will increase the number of US troops involved to about 16,000. 
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8471460.stm

Rescue Teams Pull Back as Haiti Aid Flows In
New York Times
By REUTERS PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) – The search for survivors of Haiti’s killer earthquake has started to wind down as international rescue teams begin …
www.nytimes.com/reuters/2010/01/21/world/international-us-quake-haiti.html

Vows to Move Fast for Haitian Immigrants in US
New York Times
Deleranaeis Dolvin waited to speak with a counselor on Wednesday at the Notre Dame d’Haiti church in Miami. By JAMES C. McKINLEY Jr. MIAMI — Clutching their …
www.nytimes.com/2010/01/21/us/21immig.html
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Obamas donate $15000 to Haiti relief
Washington Post (blog)
The Obamas sent a $15000 check on Wednesday to the Clinton-Bush Haiti fund, the relief effort led by former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2010/01/20/BL2010012004249.html

Top Priority Is to Rescue Haitian Orphans From Streets, Doctor Says
FOXNews
19, 2010 Haitian children, who were already orphaned before the earthquake, arrive for medical care at Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh. Jan. …
www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,583476,00.html

Beyonce Joins MTV’s ‘Hope For Haiti’ Telethon Lineup
MTV.com
By Jayson Rodriguez Beyoncé has been added to the bill for the “Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief” telethon, airing Friday at 8 pm …
www.mtv.com/news/articles/1630121/20100120/knowles_beyonce.jhtml

US Navy Hospital Ship in Haiti, Treating Patients
Voice of America
The US Navy Hospital ship Comfort reached Haiti before dawn Wednesday morning. Around that time, an aftershock that could even be felt on the Comfort, …
www1.voanews.com/english/news/americas/US-Navy-Hospital-Ship-in-Haiti-Treating-Patients-82207182.html

More go online or text to donate for Haiti’s quake victims
USA Today
By Kevin McCoy, USA TODAY Online contributions for Haiti earthquake-relief efforts are setting giving records, topping early totals for other major
…
www.usatoday.com/money/world/2010-01-20-haiti-quake-online-giving_N.htm

Allen schools raise funds for Haiti
Dallas Morning News (blog)
A number of Allen ISD schools are raising funds for relief work Haiti, following the recent devastating eartquake there. Some entrepreneurial students at …
allenblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/01/allen-schools-raise-funds-for.html

Journey into Haiti
FOXNews (blog)
After 6 long hours, we’ve made it to the border between Dominican Republic and Haiti. When we arrived in Santo Domingo yesterday we were told of reports of …
liveshots.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/01/20/journey-into-haiti/?test=latestnews

A poll on TV doctor-correspondents in Haiti
Baltimore Sun
Many regular readers here have already commented on my three blogs posts about CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta and the medical care he has been providing in Haiti. …
www.baltimoresun.com/bal-gupta-tvdoctors-haiti,0,4708361.storylink

Magnitude 5.9 – HAITI REGION
Region, HAITI REGION. Distances, 50 km (30 miles) WSW of PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti 105 km (65 miles) E of Les Cayes, Haiti 160 km (100 miles) SSW of Cap-Haitien, Haiti 1110 km (690 miles) SE of Miami, Florida …
earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2010rsbb.php

Global Voices Online “Haiti: aftershock effects
By Nicholas Laughlin
Reactions to a strong aftershock (6.1 magnitude) in southern Haiti this morning, as relief efforts continue more than a week after a major earthquake devastated the region around the capital. …
globalvoicesonline.org/2010/01/20/haiti-aftershock-effects/

The Cause of Haiti’s Latest Earthquake: Is the Worst Yet to Come …
By Jeneen Interlandi
When one connects these dots, it becomes clear that the Caribbean is an active seismic zone and that more earthquakes, like the aftershock that hit today and the original quake that devastated Haiti, should not come as a surprise. …
blog.newsweek.com/blogs/thehumancondition/archive/2010/01/20/the-cause-of-haiti-s-latest-earthquake-is-the-worst-yet-to-come-a-look-at-the-seismic-science-in-the-caribbean.aspx

Solar power making huge difference in Haiti
By Dave Freeman
Sounds like technology is making a difference in the lives of the victims of the Haitian earthquakes. Several different companies that produce products …
www.crunchgear.com/2010/01/20/solar-power-making-huge-difference-in-haiti/

More science from the Haiti earthquake – Physics Today News Picks
By Physics Today
Haiti’s political situation had made it a difficult place to do science, says Eric Calais, a geophysicist at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, who has used GPS stations to monitor the area since 2003 (see left). …
blogs.physicstoday.org/newspicks/2010/01/more-science-from-the-haiti-ea.html

People Flee Into Streets as Strong Quake Strikes Devastated Haiti …
People Flee Into Streets as Strong Quake Strikes Devastated Haiti, The most powerful aftershock yet struck Haiti on Wednesday, shaking more rubble from
…
www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,583420,00.html

Obama says US not going to take over Haiti
Washington Post
AP WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says the United States cannot afford to ignore the trouble in Haiti. Obama said Wednesday in an interview with ABC …
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/20/AR2010012004452.html

20 January, 2010

With Foreign Aid Still at a Trickle, Devastated Port-au-Prince General Hospital Struggles to Meet Overwhelming Need
One week after Haiti suffered the worst earthquake in over 200 years, a strong aftershock hit this morning. Initial reports said the latest quake measured 6.1 on the Richter scale?one of the strongest aftershocks since the 7.0-magnitude quake crippled this country eight days ago. While tens of thousands of the wounded await medical help, the survivors are still burying the dead. The death toll is now estimated at a staggering 200,000. Some three million Haitians?a third of the country’s population?have been directly affected by the earthquake, with one-and-a-half million now homeless. Amy Goodman files a report from the General Hospital in Port-au-Prince.

Listen/Watch/Read
www.democracynow.org/2010/1/20/devastated_port_au_prince_hospital_struggles

Journalist Kim Ives on How Western Domination Has Undermined Haiti’s Ability to Recover from Natural Devastation
Shortly after Haiti was hit by a 6.1 aftershock earlier today, Amy Goodman and Kim Ives of Haiti Liberté report from the Port-au-Prince airport. Amy and Kim discuss how centuries of Western domination of Haiti has worsened the impact of the devastating earthquake, from the harsh reaction to Haiti’s independence as a republic of free slaves in 1804 to the US-backed overthrow of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 2004. Ives says, “This quake was precipitated by a political earthquake?with an epicenter in Washington, DC.”

Listen/Watch/Read
www.democracynow.org/2010/1/20/journalist_kim_ives_on_how_decades

At San Isidro Air Base, a Missed Opportunity to Help Haiti
Emily Troutman, Truthout: “Last Wednesday, a team lead by the US State Department and the US Armed Forces, along with help from Dominican forces and the US Department of Homeland Security, quickly set up a receiving station for US citizen evacuees at San Isidro, a Dominican air base just outside of Santo Domingo. The facility is fully outfitted with the technology, space and equipment to support a complex, fast-moving aid operation to Haiti, but now sits empty, often fully staffed, nearly all of the time.”
messenger.truthout.org/ss/link.php?M=239627&N=469&C=76a196c220c6b4abf0e0378da6549ca1&L=3958

Strong Aftershock Rattles Haiti as Rescue Efforts Continue
Jacqueline Charles, David Ovalle, Trenton Daniel, Lesley Clark and Frances Robles, The Miami Herald: “Authorities in Haiti scrambled to assess the damage caused by a powerful aftershock that rocked Haiti Wednesday morning, shaking unstable buildings and sending panicked people running into the streets only eight days after the country’s capital was devastated by a previous, stronger quake.”
messenger.truthout.org/ss/link.php?M=239627&N=469&C=76a196c220c6b4abf0e0378da6549ca1&L=3958

Profiting From Haiti’s Crisis: Disaster Capitalism in Washington’s Backyard
Benjamin Dangl, Toward Freedom: “US corporations, private mercenaries, Washington and the International Monetary fund are using the crisis in Haiti to make a profit, promote unpopular neoliberal policies, and extend military and economic control over the Haitian people.”
messenger.truthout.org/ss/link.php?M=239627&N=469&C=76a196c220c6b4abf0e0378da6549ca1&L=3961

An Open Letter to David Brooks on Haiti
Tom F. Driver and Carl Lindskoog, Truthout: “In your January 15, 2010, opinion piece in The New York Times, ‘The Underlying Tragedy,’ you present what you seem to believe is a bold assessment of the situation in Haiti and what you certainly know is a provocative recommendation for Haiti’s future. You also offer some advice to President Obama. In order to successfully keep his promise to the people of Haiti that they ‘will not be forsaken’ nor ‘forgotten,’ the president, you say, has to ‘acknowledge a few difficult truths.’ What follows, however, is so shockingly ignorant of Haitian history and culture and so saturated with the language and ideology of cultural imperialism that no valuable ‘truths’ remain. Please allow us, therefore, to present you with some more accurate truths.”
messenger.truthout.org/ss/link.php?M=239627&N=469&C=76a196c220c6b4abf0e0378da6549ca1&L=3966

Reality in Haiti is Even Worse Than it Looks
By Steven Edwards
When looking at images from the disaster, we need to multiply by ten times our reaction of horror … because when the reality of the event is before your eyes, as it has been before mine this past week, only doing that can give you a true picture of what is going on in a place that has become hell not far from our shores.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article24455.htm

‘Only the strong’ get Haiti aid:
Haiti’s ambassador to the United States has called for an end to the chaotic helicopter drops of earthquake aid, saying the general population needs stable relief. “We don’t like it… because when they make [aid] drops, only the strong get it,” said ambassador Raymond Joseph.
www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/01/21/2797407.htm?section=justin

Solar-powered Bibles sent to Haiti:
As international aid agencies rush food, water and medicine to Haiti’s earthquake victims, a United States group is sending Bibles.
www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/01/19/2796032.htm

Homeless Haitians Told Not to Flee to U.S.:
America has a message for the millions of Haitians left homeless and destitute by last week’s earthquake: Do not try to come to the United States.
www.nytimes.com/2010/01/19/us/19refugee.html

Haiti earthquake: US ships blockade coast to thwart exodus to America:
A US aircraft carrier is spearheading a blockade of Haiti’s waters as America prepares for a mass sea exodus of Haitians with thousands fleeing the devastated capital of Port-au-Prince.
snipurl.com/u4z72

“The Real Looting in Haiti”:
“The real looting in Haiti is not the people trying to get food to survive. The real looting of Haiti is the economic policies of the U.S. and France, as well as institutions such as the IMF and World Bank, in addition to the disaster capitalism that is fast setting in.
www.accuracy.org/newsrelease.php?articleId=2157

If the Marines Don’t Kill You, the Loans Will
Profiting From Haiti’s Misery
By BENJAMIN DANGL
January 19, 2010 – US corporations, private mercenaries, Washington and the International Monetary Fund are using the crisis in Haiti to make a profit, promote unpopular neoliberal policies, and extend military and economic control over the Haitian people. In the aftermath of the earthquake, with much of the infrastructure and government services destroyed, Haitians have relied on each other for the relief efforts, working together to pull their neighbors, friends and loved ones from the rubble. One report from IPS News in Haiti explained, “In the day following the quake, there was no widespread violence. Guns, knives and theft weren’t seen on the streets, lined only with family after family carrying their belongings. They voiced their anger and frustration with sad songs that echoed throughout the night, not their fists.”…
www.uruknet.de/?p=62352

Death toll at 200,000
US military to enforce state of emergency in Haiti
By Tom Eley
January 19, 2010 – The Haitian government declared a state of emergency on Monday, six days after a magnitude 7.0 earthquake laid waste to much of the nation and its capital, Port-au-Prince, killing at least 200,000, according to the latest estimate. The state of emergency creates martial law conditions that will be enforced by the US military. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had demanded the imposition of the emergency decree during her visit to Haiti on Saturday. “The decree would give the government an enormous amount of authority, which in practice they would delegate to us,” Clinton declared.With tens of thousands more Haitians in peril for lack of water, food and medical supplies, Haiti’s imposition of martial law until February 1 makes clear that the central preoccupation of the US-led rescue operation is not to save lives, but to establish military control over the nation…
www.uruknet.de/?p=62353

U.S. contributed to Haiti’s Failed State Status
Kazi Mahmood
January 19, 2010 – Now lets consider the bigger picture across the world. It is certain that the U.S. invaded Haiti and established a puppet regime – like in Afghanistan and Iraq – in order to be able to exploit the people and the national resources under the banner of ‘Democracy’ and ‘Freedom’. Is this not what is happening in other parts of the world where the U.S. has literrally colonized lands? A quick visit to the CIA’s website on Haiti reveals the obvious. The writers of the site note that Haiti is ‘the poorest country’ in the Western Hemisphere with ‘80% of the population’ living under the ‘poverty line’ and 54% in ‘abject poverty.’ This is odd. Haiti was practically under the spell of the U.S. since 1994 and this shows why the U.S. has failed the Haitians…
www.uruknet.de/?p=62354

Video: Haiti Report by TeleSur’s Reed Lindsay, Now Translated to English
By Al Giordano and Joaquín Nezua Herrera
January 19, 2010 – Many thanks to 2010 School of Authentic Journalism scholar Joaquín Nezua Herrera, who put up the subtitles so that English speakers can get this unique ground level view of post-earthquake Port au Prince… In contrast, CNN and the English language networks have largely been doing a dreadful job covering the crisis and recovery in Haiti. Ansel Herz offers an informed critique via his blog, Mediahacker: Tell CNN to Stop Hyping Fears of Violence in Haiti.,,
www.uruknet.de/?p=62355