To the Editor:
When I was a child, I, like so many others, marched in parades with my little American flag, proud to be an American.
I marched with my dad and brothers when they came back from WW II, happy that they had returned safely from the Normandy beaches, but, no more.
I have grown up, and as the Good Book says, I have put aside childish things. I no longer fly that little flag, nor would I.
Over the years I have learned much about deaths and destruction that this country has wreaked throughout its history.
Unlike too many of my fellow country people, I began to learn of the history of this nation and not a week goes by that I do not learn another bitter truth.
This past week, we were all assailed by the news of the devastating earthquake in Haiti. Along with this news of a desperately poor people being ravaged by the forces of nature, I learned more bitter truths of the role the U.S. has played in bringing a people to its knees. It came in an account written by Paul Farmer in Jan. 2009.
Farmer, a Harvard educated doctor, has spent years trying to alleviate the suffering of the people of Haiti through his worthy organization, Partners in Health.
In 1804, the U.S. refused to recognize Haiti as soon as it became an independent republic of freed slaves.
The U.S. invaded Haiti in 1915 to ensure a debt payment to Citibank. It helped prop up ruthless and brutal dictators such as Papa and Baby Doc, in the name of fighting communism.
In the 1980s, the U.S. decimated Haiti’s agricultural base by forcing subsidized U.S. rice on Haitian markets.
The Bush administration imposed a development assistance embargo in 2001 because it opposed the legitimate government of Jean Bertrand Aristide. The embargo stopped urgently needed government programs. Canceling water projects in just one city had a devastating impact on health in the area.
In 2004, U.S. officials forced Haiti President Aristide aboard a clandestine flight to Africa and placed a Bush supporter from Florida at the head of the Haitian government.
The result of U.S. policies have had devastating impacts on life in Haiti. They have cost thousands of lives, lost in political violence.
Millions more suffered because Haiti’s illegitimate right wing government would not provide clean water and basic healthcare.
Pat Robertson, darling of the religious right, with a demonic grin, inferred this week that Haiti ‘s misery was due to its pact with the devil.
How much more can this nation suffer such grinding misery than to have the U.S. proudly boast of giving $100 million in aid? The U.S. spends billions a month on its increasing wars all over the Middle East. It never made the headline news, but Cuba has already sent teams of doctors to Haiti, something it knows how to do best.
The U.S. sent battalions of well-armed Marines, something we do best.
Suzanne F.Hedrick
Nobleboro
