Crawling out of the mud

Clinton and Bush are using their Haiti relief fund to gloss over the many deaths caused by their neglect while in office

By Paul Hussey

During Haiti’s time of unimaginable crisis and tragedy, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton have given themselves wings and halos, and teamed up as saviours of the world by forming the Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund.

Formed shortly after the earthquake hit, its main purpose is to implore the American people to donate money as soon as possible through their secure agency.

Just when you thought there weren’t already a hoard of trustworthy humanitarian organizations to pick from, such as Amnesty International, World Vision, Red Cross, etc., these two honest and peaceful world citizens give us another. Somehow, it almost makes old Georgie and Billy look like Gandhi and Mother Theresa.

Almost.

These two hogs have flopped out of their pork-barrel sties at a critical, yet vulnerable time: With the world transfixed on helping the people of Haiti, Bush and Clinton seem to be crawling out of the mud, trying to redeem themselves after their neglect of those victims of Hurricane Katrina and the Rwandan genocide.

When news of genocide in Rwanda broke to the world in 1995, Bill Clinton turned his back on their people, saying that it was not in the political interest of the United States to intervene in a civil dispute.

This dispute culminated in the deaths of an estimated 500,000 people. If the United States had sent troops to intervene (after all, they went into Afghanistan to “save” the Afghan people from the oppressive hands of the Taliban), hundreds of thousands of lives could have been saved.

Clinton was right, though. It wasn’t in the political interest of the U.S. to intervene in Rwanda – how could they justify it to the American people, who understood little of sub-Saharan African ethno-cultural tensions?

They couldn’t, and by ignoring Rwanda, Clinton got elected for a second term in office. Stopping a genocide or re-election? Clinton chose the latter.

Now let’s not forget George W., the ape-like, verbally challenged, yet cunning war-strategist. Although he’s best remembered for his incompetent decision making in Afghanistan and Iraq, what’s worse is that he thought he didn’t need to make any decisions when it came to the suffering of his own people as a result of Hurricane Katrina.

As a result of his optimism, not to mention lack of preparation and planning, the hurricane razed the historic city of New Orleans to the ground, as mass flooding took thousands of lives with it.

Let us now fast-forward to the present. For two men who have ignored humanitarian crises in the past and have had their identities as world citizens stripped away, Haiti was the perfect opportunity.

They get to take credit for the unquestioned spirit, generosity, and human compassion that has been contagious since the earthquake.

Regardless of Bush and Clinton’s little pseudo-temporary aid organization, people were still going to give an extraordinary amount of money to the Haiti relief effort, they just get to put their names to a good cause ... a few years, or a decade, too late.

More unnerving though, is that this was solely about redemption for them – making people forget their past mistakes – not about help.

It’s sickening to think that Bush and Clinton attached their names onto the honest-to-goodness empathy of the millions of people who have given their support to the people of Haiti. All done in hopes that their tarnished past could be forgotten, or even forgiven, amidst the latest crisis.

The most unsettling thing about all this is that the current president, Barack Obama, who announced and supports the Clinton-Bush Fund, claimed last week that, “In times of great challenge in our country and around the world, Americans have always come together to lend a hand and to serve others and to do what’s right”.

That, I’m afraid, is not the case, Mr. President. Thing is, if Obama can’t admit it, then it’s doubtful that the average American will either.

I guess that’s just how the world turns: Obama gets a ratings boost, Bush and Clinton get positive PR, and Haiti gets the money. In the end, everyone’s still got their heads in the mud.

Share