Haiti: Ben Macintyre Explains It All For You

France is one of the countries that says the USA has no business being in Haiti. After all, who the hell do we think we are, providing an onslaught of food, medical services, and other disaster assistance, free of charge? And that's before the outpouring of support, financial and otherwise, from the American public. But if you're going to decide whether to help a neighbor get back on their feet again, who better to ask for advice than those who got them into the mess in the first place?

Where does the fault lie in Haiti? For geologists, it lies on the line between the North American and Caribbean tectonic plates. For some, the earthquake is evidence of God’s wrath ... for many Haitians, the fault lies earlier — with Haiti’s colonial experience, the slavers and extortionists of empire who crippled it with debt and permanently stunted the economy. The fault line runs back 200 years, directly to France.

Ben Macintyre of The London Times gives us a much-needed history lesson.

Discuss.

(h/t to John Halton.)
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