By Mark LeVine
Al-Jazeera
".....As the carnage of the largest earthquake to hit Haiti in 200 years comes into full view, the biggest stars of Hollywood and the music industry are coming together for a "Hope for Haiti" telethon.
But there can be no hope for Haiti without justice, and no justice without an honest appraisal of the centuries-long history that set the country up for such a devastating political and social collapse in the wake of the earthquake.
A history largely ignored
The roots of this collapse are as deep as they are unknown - or unappreciated - by the majority of Americans - although it is widely discussed across the globe.....
Whitewashing history
Haiti's complex and, from an American point of view, largely unpleasant and unedifying history must be acknowledged if there is to be any hope that the country's internationally financed reconstruction will not merely lay the groundwork for more poverty and disasters.
Sadly, Obama, who famously admitted in his 2009 Cairo speech that the US had in fact overthrown the elected government in Iran, has so far said nothing about the even more extensive US history of meddling in Haiti.
Instead, writing in Newsweek, the president declared that "at long last, after decades of conflict and instability, Haiti was showing hopeful signs of political and economic progress".
Needless to say, if there was any substantive progress, the state would not have utterly disappeared in the rubble of the temblor.
Seemingly oblivious to the role of the US and UN in producing Haiti's current woes, Obama declared that: "The United States will be there with the Haitian government and the United Nations every step of the way."
If the past is any guide, this does not augur well for the country's future......."
Al-Jazeera
".....As the carnage of the largest earthquake to hit Haiti in 200 years comes into full view, the biggest stars of Hollywood and the music industry are coming together for a "Hope for Haiti" telethon.
But there can be no hope for Haiti without justice, and no justice without an honest appraisal of the centuries-long history that set the country up for such a devastating political and social collapse in the wake of the earthquake.
A history largely ignored
The roots of this collapse are as deep as they are unknown - or unappreciated - by the majority of Americans - although it is widely discussed across the globe.....
Whitewashing history
Haiti's complex and, from an American point of view, largely unpleasant and unedifying history must be acknowledged if there is to be any hope that the country's internationally financed reconstruction will not merely lay the groundwork for more poverty and disasters.
Sadly, Obama, who famously admitted in his 2009 Cairo speech that the US had in fact overthrown the elected government in Iran, has so far said nothing about the even more extensive US history of meddling in Haiti.
Instead, writing in Newsweek, the president declared that "at long last, after decades of conflict and instability, Haiti was showing hopeful signs of political and economic progress".
Needless to say, if there was any substantive progress, the state would not have utterly disappeared in the rubble of the temblor.
Seemingly oblivious to the role of the US and UN in producing Haiti's current woes, Obama declared that: "The United States will be there with the Haitian government and the United Nations every step of the way."
If the past is any guide, this does not augur well for the country's future......."
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