DON'T BLAME THE USA FOR HAITI TROUBLES-WHY DO WE HAVE TO PROVIDE ALL THE AID TO A TERRIBLY MISMANAGED NATION BY ITS OWN GOVERNMENT SINCE 1804?

We all sympathized with the Haiti population devastated by the earthquake, we all felt as members of the world community, it was proper to help, many Americans sent money and donated to various charities active in that country.

But other than the obvious need to assist that impoverished nation with temporary supplies of water, food, and perhaps heavy equipment to help with clearing the debris, American were chastised by the locals, including their incompetent, corrupt government officials who complained that we did not do enough, or that we did not do it fast enough, or that the aid was too little!

Such gall, such feelings of entitlement. When did Haiti, that out of control, de-forested, badly mismanaged since 1804 country, get the idea that WE Americans are somehow responsible for their affairs?

Haiti had a population of 6.8 million in the year 2000, and it is estimated at 9.8 million today. This is an unsustainable and impossible population to thrive in that miserable country. This 50% increase in population is the driving force for continued an unabated rise in poverty, not to mention the total incompetence and thievery by every government there in recent memory and before.

Haiti has been the poorest nation in the Caribbean, and has been the perennial basket case since its "independence" from France in 1804, at which time it was its RICHEST colony. Independence, allowed its "rulers", which were described as the first black democracy, to flush all those riches right down the toilet, and ever since that nation was living on the constant dole, the charity of other nations...constantly.

Based on those handouts, the population keeps growing and growing, and why not, they can pretty much get everything delivered to them for free by hundreds of organizations that keep supporting the endless cycle of poverty, lack of education and family planning.

Remember that famous saying, " give a man a fish and he can eat for a day, tech a man to fish, and he can...etc....". Well somebody needs to put that sign up someplace in Haiti, and follow its principle.

Now I read that the Haitians are demanding that we AMERICANS rebuild their country at a cost of some $14 billion, yes we are to re-build that country for them, so that they can continue to hang out on street corners and produce another 50% increase in the population in the next 10 years!

Where do we stop? Have you seen the poverty in the United States?

I traveled though Detroit, that city drive gave me the idea that it would be an excellent place to film the next WORLD WAR II movie, since pretty much it resembled a bombed out, burned out ghetto, and not an American city.

Let's start with rebuilding America.

Nicolas Sarkozy made the first visit ever by a French president to Haiti, once his nation's richest colony — offering aid to a country prostrate after a catastrophic earthquake.

Sarkozy, who was greeted by Haitian President Rene Preval, another worthless despot, as a brass band played the Marseillaise, toured a French field hospital in the earthquake-ravaged capital before giving a brief speech at the undamaged French Embassy.

He said his visit had particular resonance given France and Haiti's historical ties and acknowledged that the "wounds of colonization" were perhaps still fresh in the minds of many Haitians, some of whom blame France for the country's troubles.

"We are living a pivotal moment, a moment of truth for Haiti," Sarkozy said.

Sarkozy said Haiti needs a reconstruction plan that bolsters the outlying provinces to help shift people away from Port-au-Prince, the Caribbean's most densely populated capital. He said one reason the death toll was so high was that the city was not built to sustain such a large population.

He also said it is time for Haiti to take control of its destiny and free itself from dependence on foreign aid, AMEN!.

"The Haitian people have been wounded ... The Haitian people are standing," he said, ending the speech by saying "Vive la France, Vive Haiti."

Some Haitians are welcoming France's new interest in their nation as a counterbalance to the United States, which has sent troops there three times in the past 16 years. But Sarkozy's visit is also reviving bitter memories of the crippling costs of Haiti's 1804 independence.

A third of the population was killed in an uprising against exceptionally brutal slavery, an international embargo was imposed to deter slave revolts elsewhere and 90 million pieces of gold were demanded by Paris from the world's first black republic.

The debt hobbled Haiti, it seemed for life.

A country plagued by natural and unnatural calamities was desperately poor and mismanaged even before a magnitude-7 earthquake smashed up the capital Port-au-Prince on Jan. 12, killing more than 200,000 people and leaving more than a million homeless.

Haitian politicians this week diplomatically skirted the question of French reparations — a demand put to Paris by ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 2004. That suggests Sarkozy's four-hour visit could herald a new era.

French officials say Sarkozy will announce details of "a French plan for the reconstruction of Haiti" — if Haitian officials agree. It differs little from proposals from Haitian, U.S. and U.N. officials to decentralize power away from the devastated capital and boost agriculture and tourism.

The trip brings Sarkozy to an island where, French officials acknowledge, fascination with things French duels with strong, lingering resentments.

One official close to the French presidency, briefing reporters in Paris on condition of anonymity, hinted that France is not deaf to calls for reparations, calling Sarkozy's visit "an occasion to show that France is mobilizing to give Haitians control of their destiny and pay past debts."

France has already said it was canceling all of Haiti's 56 million euro (US$77 million) debt to Paris.

In 1825, crippled by the U.S.-led international embargo that was enforced by French warships, Haiti agreed to pay France 150 million francs in compensation for the lost "property" — including slaves — of French plantation owners.

By comparison, France sold the United States its immensely larger Louisiana Territory in 1803 for just 60 million francs. The amount for Haiti was later lowered to 90 million gold francs.

Haiti did not finish paying the debilitating debt — which was swollen by massive interest payments to French and American banks — until 1947.

But Haiti's wealth already was destroyed. It had been the world's richest colony, providing half the globe's sugar and other exports including coffee, cotton, hardwood and indigo that exceeded the value of everything produced in the United States in 1788.

By the early 1780s, half of Haiti's forests were gone, leading to the devastating erosion and extreme poverty that bedevils the country today.

France's other former colonies in the region — Guadeloupe, Martinique, St. Martin, St. Barts and Guiana (in South America) — all have voted to remain part of France and send legislators to the French parliament.

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