One question...

Why in the hell would we want to 'occupy' a poverty stricken third world country with little to no assets. :doh:

Can you cite some of this nasty stuff? I'm interested.

Here is cool one about Russia

http://www.infowars.com/russia-us-de...anitarian-aid/

Seems everyone is doing it. So what's the beef?

I do not see any chance of the US annexing Haiti and adding thousands of welfare recipients to the dole. I don't think Cuba even wants it, however an effort would be made to prevent a base for terrorists being carved out of the rubble, so we will most likely help restore the current government and maintain order to that goal.

I want to hear about the Military intervention in Haitai. :06:

Look again

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/amer...y/1436831.html

Why indeed.
Why have they occupied it before?
Does it have more or less potential than somewhere like Puerto Rico?

To spread American democracy and freedom? :)

Or whiskey :03:

This is where they cross the line into WRONG!

That would probably be easiest if you look at USAIDs work with the old Office of Public Safety.

Yeah thank god the west saw sense and didn't fully back that idiot in Georgia. What arseholes were it that was pushing for Saakashvilli to be let into NATO?

If the Chinese were doing it in Mexico or perhaps even Louisianna would you have a beef with it?
If Chavez was doing it would Washington be throwing a fit?

There are some activities that USAID takes part in that I don't approve of as well, starting with the billions it throws into third-world money-pits for no apparent reason, but I don't know of any instances in which USAID was a front for anything remotely resembling occupation.

I think it more likely that most of the protest over US troops presence is coming from politicians who are trying to blame their domestic problems on the US. The US is an easy scapegoat for governments that have a dissatisfied populace and/or domestic issues. It's easy to point to the US and claim that we have some clandestine agenda to rule the world or steal everyone's wealth or whatever hopelessly stupid thing they come up with at the time.

It's a lot harder for a populace to realize just how much of their plight is caused by their own government. That's true (in a slightly different methodology) even in the US. People here blame China and Mexico for everything under the sun without ever stopping to wonder why we have problems with those nations. To them, the answer is easy; cheap labor, greedy, ungrateful immigrants, evil corporations, whatever happens to be the fad at the time. They rarely question their own political system.

I imagine it is the same way for impoverished people who live in war-torn nations with corrupt or totalitarian governments. They look at the US and how wealthy it is and really believe that we are stealing their wealth. As if it was in some sort of finite supply, but they never look at their own governments which steal everything from money to relief shipments from them all the time and also often destroy any kind of real social mobility.
[/quote]

You're missing the point. I was trying to point out that US military intervention is a common response to disasters, even in our own nation. It was supposed to sound silly.

I'm sure the NRA was furious with anyone's guns being taken away, but they're supposed to be that way. The whole country is supposed to be that way about any percieved violation of the bill of rights. I'd go on, but I'm drifting OT and I'm sure you're not interested in hearing another rant from me. :DL

The US had poor relations with Spain for decades in that part of the world and occupied Haiti from 1898 to 1936 after the Spanish-American War. During that time plenty of money was spent building infrastucture and developing business interests. The US has since then sent tons of money in aid, and I'm sure trying to keep another Cuba type communist takeover. So essentially a national defense posture.

The Chinese do not have to occupy these placed, the own us lock stock and barrel. They own me financially. Oddly, I have no beef about it. Chavez has his own problems. Haiti is of no use to him anyway. :03:

Actually Chavez has been providing home heating oil assistance to some US citizens for quite some time without Washington throwing a fit.

http://www.citgoheatingoil.com/

There is always a reason, it may not be apparent.

What domestic problems? (OK leaving aside that fruitcake in caracas as he would blame america if he got wet in the rain)

Thats the war when they a had fake attack as justification wasn't it. Sorry, one of the wars where a fake attack was the justification.

Yeah, those false flag operations in latin America were generally about some largely fictional communist threat.

Do those deliveries come with a Venezuelan military escort? After all who was it who said some of those areas of the US were more dangerous than downtown Baghdad?