Deep thought of the day

You know how journalists and media outlets are supposed to disclose their interests with stories they cover?  The best example being when we hear at the end of every NBC story: “General Electric, which is under investigation for …… is the parent company of NBC News.”

Should Al Jazeera start ending their segments on Libya with: “The government of Qatar, which is the parent company of Al Jazeera, is currently launching air strikes on Qaddafi’s government”?

Just wondering.

Al Jazeera’s cheap shot

As I have written before, I am a fan of Al Jazeera. However, a recent report criticizing US aid efforts in Haiti made me pretty angry. The report criticized the US for “taking over,” “deciding who lands in Haiti,” and turning back aid from other nations. The US is pushing its own agenda and is not taking the needs of Haitians into account, according to a former defense minister.

Excuse me, what possible agenda could the US have in Haiti other than aid and reconstruction? It has no natural resources, is one of the poorest countries on earth, and is strategically irrelevant for US national security. What on earth does the US have to gain from aiding Haiti at this moment? Perhaps you say praise. Well, this may be true, but how does the US gain praise if it is turning away aid from other countries? Maybe the US is doing it because it fears mass exodus of Haitians to the US. This is plausible, but if this is the reason, the US agenda is to improve governance in Haiti to reduce demand for emigration. Is this a bad thing? Perhaps you argue the US is attempting to assert its dominance over Haiti. Sure, the US has a history of doing this, but usually for a reason. Why does the US care if Haiti is on its side or not? What does Haiti have that the US wants?

Moreover, I agree that the Government of Haiti should lead the relief efforts. The only problem is that the government doesn’t exist. The president is using a police station as his headquarters because all government buildings have been destroyed. There is no telecommunication infrastructure and Haiti has no army – not a weak army, but no army at all. Sadly, very sadly in fact, the earthquake destroyed the capacity of the Government of Haiti to lead the relief efforts. The UN is a bit better off, but it is in no position to lead the efforts, either.

Finally, I know its not pleasant to hear, but it is important to have infrastructure in place before starting large-scale relief efforts. Currently, the US military is probably the most well-equipped organization on this planet to be able to do this on a moment’s notice. I don’t like the militarization of humanitarian relief efforts and I don’t agree with it, but that is the world we have. Save the moral high ground talk until after the crisis. Just sending food onto the street without some plan for how you are going to distribute it would simply cause chaos.

This report was a gratuitous shot at the US. I am sure the operations are far from perfect, but look at the scope of the disaster. Expecting perfection not very realistic. I haven’t seen any other country offer anything close to the level of assistance the US has and if any other country wants to, let it come forward. Save the criticism for a worthy cause.

Al Jazeera

Increasingly, I am turning to Al Jazeera as my primary TV news source when traveling abroad.  While the quality of the news is similar to the BBC (I gave up on CNN as 90% fluff long ago), Al Jazeera is much more engaging, in my opinion.  In addition, I am deeply impressed with its global reach.  It is far more than a regional network.  For example, I am currently watching an in-depth discussion about Zimbabwe.  The last time I was away (a few weeks ago), I saw a documentary on Hugo Chavez’s crackdown on the media in Venezuela.

Update:

Al Jazeera just ran a story on Hugo Chavez’s trip to Russia that I referenced in a recent post.  During the trip, Chavez secured a $2.2 billion line of credit for weapons purchases.  According to Al Jazeera, Venezuela needs the weapons because Chavez fears the US is going to invade it to seize its oil.