Role of US military to be examined

THE role of the US military in delivering aid to Haiti is likely to be examined in the aftermath of the disaster, according to the Irish Red Cross, who said assistance should be delivered “purely on the basis of need”.

Head of the International Department of the organisation, Noel Wardick, told the Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs that, while he did not have any serious concerns about the issue, “the impartiality of aid can be questioned when it is delivered by military forces”.

He said: “We believe the military has a security role, a law and order mandate, but we would argue that aid and the delivery of aid is best left with aid agencies and organisations.”

He was responding to concerns by committee members who said images on the television showed big guns used to protect the aid being delivered to victims of the earthquake.

Wardick said that “the most important thing is that aid is delivered in a neutral, impartial, humanitarian manner and is delivered purely on need. We would be insisting they are the only reasons aid is delivered.”

Committee member Senator David Norris said there was a “beauty contest” of countries lining up to provide assistance in Haiti “to advance their political image”.

He said: “This is the most populated island of the Caribbean and is next door to Cuba so it’s a good listening point. I’m not impugning the work the Americans do, but we need to be very careful.”

Norris said Europeans should be “bitterly ashamed” that Haiti was forced to pay reparations to France after it got independence from them, until 1947.

“France should stand reproached for that,” he said.

The committee also called for a cancellation of debt owed by Haiti and said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) should give it grants instead of loans as it tries to recover from the crisis.

Irish charities have raised around €10 million so far to help the victims of the earthquake.

“Large sums have been donated at a time when many people are feeling the effects of the recession. This level of generosity towards, and solidarity with, the people of Haiti is something of which all of us in Ireland can be proud. I commend each and every member of the public who has contributed,” said Minister for Overseas Aid Peter Power.