One the other subject, we should be tooting our horn. It is important that all involved know we are there. Too many times we have done work like this and the locals never knew we were there.
Clearly, you don't have a clue about what all is going on in Haiti. There is no question that they know who we are and that we're there. A bazillion Air Force cargo planes and Army helicopters and military personnel running around the country makes that evident enough that a blind man knows we're there. What prompted all this was the locals seeing the American Flag raised over the Haiti airport, as if we had taken it over in a military operation.
The US military is still the 800 pound gorilla with the really big stick, and seeing American military roaming around their homeland, with the American flag raised over
their airport, can freak people out, particularly in light of the fact that we have a recent history of invading other countries without much cause. The American compound just happens to be, ta-da, at the airport. If it were located somewhere else, the flag would almost certainly be flying.
Wanting to fly the flag to make the soldiers feel good about themselves while they are performing humanitarian work, while at the same time creating fear amongst and scaring the bejezus out of the locals, isn't exactly the best way to give aid and comfort to a devastated people in dire need of aid and comfort. If American soldiers need an American flag to be waiving to feel honored to be down there helping people who need it, then they probably don't belong there in the first place.
The American Flag is a very in-your-face symbol of "This is ours!" and to have it flying anywhere other than the US Consulate is wholly inappropriate for a non-expeditionary force not occupying the country. Putting the flag on vehicles, buildings, and boxes of relief supplies, sure, not a problem, but flying the flag over Haitian soil like we own it smacks of arrogance and is de facto a claim of ownership.
I can see getting all bent out of shape if not flying the flag during these types of missions was new and unique, but it's not. It's their airport, and the American Flag has no business being flown over it.
This is not a military engagement. It's a nightmare down there trying to get people food, water and medicine, and what do people here at home have to worry about? Whether or not the US Flag is flying over the Haiti airport. Makes me sick. And everyone last one of you who have lost sight of what is important down there should be thoroughly ashamed of yourselves. Food, clean water, sanitation and medicine are all in short supply. So beat yer chest and whine about Obama and anything else that don't matter, if it makes you feel good. There are a million homeless living in muddy tent cities that are falling apart, and the rainy season is fast approaching. Slamming Obama is far, far more important. <snort>
