18 January 2010

Haiti, gringos, Caudillo Chavez, politics

As the catastrophe in Haiti continues to claim lives, the initial horrified reaction of the world and the selfless offers of assistance become more and more mixed with petty politicking.

The US military's takeover of emergency operations in Haiti has triggered a diplomatic row with countries and aid agencies furious at having flights redirected. Brazil and France lodged an official ­protest with Washington after US military aircraft were given priority at Port-au-Prince's congested airport, forcing many non-US flights to divert to the Dominican Republic.
One politico, however, rose high above petty, getting his act to the level of his usual sublime idiocy:
"It appears the gringos are militarily occupying Haiti," Mr Chavez said. "Obama, send medicine, doctors and water - not more soldiers."
Gringos wisely preferred not to respond, which is unnecessary with Caudillo anyway. He enjoys his own voice without being bothered to listen to anyone.

On the other side of the world, the gringos are politicking too. While about 240 Israeli army folks deployed the first field hospital in Haiti and started saving lives, what do you think takes the central place in Guardian's coverage of Israel? Yep, it was a right guess:

Netanyahu aides dismiss ex-maid's allegations against his wife as lies

Of course, don't expect a mention of the hospital in Guardian (and most of other British news sources). It is not that I expect lavish praise - the help of this kind shouldn't be awarded by anything, including praise. But anyway:
The IDF's field hospital in the Haitian capital worked at full capacity throughout Sunday, treating a relentless stream of victims from what a senior IDF medical officer described as "the war outside." Overnight Saturday, in what staff described as one of the most fulfilling moments of their work, the Israeli doctors delivered a baby boy, whose mother, Gubilande Jean Michel, promptly declared would be named "Israel."
Which is, you would agree, much better than any praise.

So, dear Guardian, here it comes:

18 comments:

maryt said...

Hey, Snoopy!  Thank you for visiting me! I'm sorry I haven't visited you! I heard about the baby being delivered on US TV this morning. Just one mention, that's all. I think it's a GREAT human interest story!  I must NOT forget to visit you. I just don't know what happened... :(

Judeosphere said...

My favorite item in the Guardian comments: "I'll pledge £25 to Haiti disaster relief if we can go the whole thread without blaming this situation on America, colonialism, Israel or the West.”

chairwoman said...

I saw the new baby on the BBC!

I almost fell out of the Chair!

Noga said...

The dogs may bark but the caravan moves on...<span>
</span>

jams o donnell said...

Did Chavez deliver such comments while twitching and ranting  about invisible buffalos?

snoopythegoon said...

Mary, no apologies, please, I am as guilty. With some good reasons, granted, but still...

Be well, this is the most important thing!

snoopythegoon said...

Ha! The man knows perfectly well that his £25 is safe.

snoopythegoon said...

Yep, the baby was cool.

snoopythegoon said...

It's not precisely about dogs, Noga, it's about a worse sort of kneebiters ;)

snoopythegoon said...

No, he was raving and twitching about Meircans trying to occupy and suborn Venezuela at the time.

Dick Stanley said...

That's cool about the Israelis. Of course I have not seen it reported anywhere else. What I get for not watching tv. But the price would be too high just to ferret out the few good ones.

indonesianmuslim@fsiekonomi.multiply.com said...

i respectfully agree with the last attached flag of israhell.
there shouldn't be a country in a country called palestine.

say no to zionism.

:)

snoopythegoon said...

Right. TV is an impossible source of info these days.

snoopythegoon said...

Say whatever you want, Indonesian Muslim, it's a free world. Just next time say it somewhere esle, because it's not a free blog here. It's part of the "israhell", as you mentioned.

David All said...

Thanks Snoopy for this post and its links. CBS News online also had the story about the baby named Israel. Their 60 minutes segment on Haiti Sunday also mention the work of the IDF field hospital including rescue workers noting that the Israelis had their field hospital working several days while they were still waiting for the much promised US field hospital to begin its operations.

Pictures from Haiti, warning some of them are quite horrifying.
"On Assignment: Prayers in the Dark" at http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/15/assignment-19
Hat tip to Brett at http://www.hurryupharry.org/2010/01/18/donations-to-haitians
  

David All said...

El Caudillo Hugo's counterpart Rush Limbaugh has also made an idiotic nasty comment about Obama and Haiti. Link to http://thinkprogress.org/2010/01/14/morning-joe-rips-limbaugh   
Hat tip to Gene for post: http://www.hurryupharry.org/2010/01/19/hugo-meet-rush    

snoopythegoon said...

Yep, Rush is at his idiotic and provocative best,

snoopythegoon said...

Thanks for the link, David.