and what's on the ground is startling and heartbreaking, particularly
what's been provided and what hasn't by the U.S. Then look at the
war budget. BTW, Amy G has a great program on Haiti this morning
with Danny Glover and several others in Haiti and elsewhere.-Ed
http://www.zcommunications.org/haiti-numbers-27-days-after-quake-by-bill-
quigley
Haiti Numbers - 27 Days After Quake
By Bill Quigley
Quigley's Zspace: February 10, 2010
890 million. Amount of international debt that Haiti owes creditors.
Finance ministers from developing countries announced they will forgive $290
million. Source: Wall Street Journal
644 million. Donations for Haiti to private organizations have exceed $644
million. Over $200 million has gone to the Red Cross, who had 15 people
working on health projects in Haiti before the earthquake. About $40
million has gone to Partners in Health, which had 5,000 people working on
health in Haiti before the quake. Source: New York Times.
1 million. People still homeless or needing shelter in Haiti. Source:
MSNBC.
1 million. People who have been given food by the UN World Food Program in
Port au Prince - another million in Port au Prince still need help. Source:
UN World Food Program.
300,000. People injured in the earthquake, reported by Haitian Prime
Minister Jean-Max Bellerive. Source: CNN.
212,000. People reported killed by earthquake by Haitian Prime Minister
Jean-Max Bellerive. Source: CNN.
63,000. There are 63,000 pregnant women among the people displaced by the
earthquake. 7,000 women will deliver their children each month. Source:
UN Populations Fund.
17,000. Number of United States troops stationed on or off coast in Haiti,
down from a high of 22,000. AFP.
9,000. United Nations troops in Haiti. Miami Herald.
7,000. Number of tents distributed by United Nations. Miami Herald.
President Preval of Haiti has asked for 200,000 tents. Reuters.
4,000. Number of amputations performed in Haiti since the earthquake. AFP.
900. Number of latrines that have been dug for the people displaced from
their homes. Another 950,000 people still need sanitation.
Source: New York Times.
75. An hourly wage of 75 cents per hour is paid by the United Nations
Development Program to people in Haiti who have been hired to help in the
clean up. The UNDP is paying 30,000 people to help clean up Haiti, 180
Haitian Gourdes ($4.47) for six hours of work. The program hopes to hire
100,000 people. Source: United Nations News Briefing.
1.25. The U.S. is pledged to spend as much as $379 million in Haitian
relief. This is about $1.25 for each person in the United States. Canadian
Press.
1. For every one dollar of U.S. aid to Haiti, 42 cents is for disaster
assistance, 33 cents is for the U.S. military, 9 cents is for food, 9 cents
is to transport the food, 5 cents to pay Haitians to help with recovery
effort, 1 cent is for the Haitian government and ½ a cent is for the
government of the Dominican Republic. Source: Associated Press.
Bill Quigley has visited Haiti numerous times working for human rights. He
is legal director of the Center for Constitutional Rights. His email is
quigley77@gmail.com
From: Z Net - The Spirit Of Resistance Lives
http://www.zcommunications.org/zinn-and-haiti-by-william-blum
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***
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6103C520100201?type=politicsNews
Obama Seeks Record $708 Billion in Military Budget
Pentagon focuses on Special Ops, cyber warfare
By Adam Entous
Reuters: February 1, 2010
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon said on Monday it would expand secretive
Special Operations units, deploy more unmanned aerial drones and increase
aid to countries like Yemen to fight al Qaeda in a shift away from Cold War
priorities.
In unveiling the Pentagon's proposed $708 billion budget for the 2011 fiscal
year that begins in October, Defense Secretary Robert Gates declared that
decades of Pentagon planning, focused on waging two major conventional wars
at the same time, had been "overtaken by events."
Faced with insurgencies in Afghanistan and Iraq, and growing al Qaeda safe
havens in Yemen and Somalia, Gates said Pentagon war planners now faced "a
world where arguably the most likely and lethal threats will emanate from
failed or fractured states."
"We must prepare for a much broader range of security challenges on the
horizon," he told reporters.
As part of the shift in priorities, Special Ops funding would grow by nearly
6 percent to $6.3 billion, enough to add up to 2,800 more elite troops and
increase the military's "irregular warfare" capabilities, budget documents
show.
The 2011 spending plan, subject to congressional approval, would also
increase the number of advanced unmanned aerial aircraft, including
single-engine Predator and Reaper drones, in war zones from 37 to 67 over
the next two years.
Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said
increasing flexibility was key in waging a successful counterinsurgency
campaign in Afghanistan.
Documents show the Pentagon wants to set aside more than $1 billion in
funding that could be doled out by local commanders to undercut the Taliban
and increase support for the U.S.-backed government in Kabul.
In a counterinsurgency fight, Mullen said, these funds "are faster, more
precise and more impactful than bullets."
CYBER WARFARE
The Defense Department said it was also putting cyberspace on a par with
land, sea, air and space as a potential conflict zone, and developing new
ways to operate there, according to a top-level Pentagon strategy review.
It said the Defense Department was building a cadre of cyber experts to
defend more than 15,000 different computer networks it operates across 4,000
military installations worldwide.
An alleged failed plot by a militant trained by Yemen-based al Qaeda in the
Arabian Peninsula to blow up a U.S. airliner bound for Detroit on Christmas
Day has increased support in Washington for stronger counterterrorism
measures abroad.
The proposed 2011 budget calls for expanding the Pentagon's main publicly
disclosed program for training and equipping security forces in countries
like Yemen, from $350 million to $500 million, documents show.
Washington has quietly increased assistance to Yemen in the last two months,
providing satellite and surveillance imagery, and intercepted communications
to help the country's security forces carry out strikes on al Qaeda in the
Arabian Peninsula.
Critics say the internal security and intelligence services that could
receive the support were major human rights abusers and that an expanded
Pentagon role risked fueling anti-American sentiment and boosting al Qaeda's
standing.
Yemen is expected to get at least $150 million in security assistance, but
Pentagon officials did not offer a breakdown.
U.S. officials also said the State Department and U.S. Agency for
International Development would increase their funding for Yemen to $106.6
million from $67.3 million the previous year, with most of the rise for
security.
Deputy Secretary of State Jack Lew said the money would improve Yemen's air
force intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capability, fund
counter-terrorism training for its security forces and offer support for the
country's coast guard, border guard and special operations forces.
(Additional reporting by Susan Cornwell, Arshad Mohammed and Jim Wolf;
Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
http://www.zcommunications.org/zinn-and-haiti-by-william-blum
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Comment: http://www.zcommunications.org/zinn-and-haiti-by-william-blum
Just over a month ago, Haiti was devastated by an earthquake – over 2 million desperately in need of food assistance to rebuild their lives. The World Food Programme was there before the quake, and they’ll be there afterwards. If you want to help you should go to: http://wfp.org/crisis/haiti or text FRIENDS to 90999 to make a $5 donation.
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