26995: Durban (comment): Cost of a New Haitian Army (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

That some of the presidential candidates with a military background
(Rebu, Philippe et al) are calling for a return of the Haitian Army is
probably not surprising, but seriously now, is this what Haiti needs?
My guess is that Charles Baker and some of the other pro-Army
candidates are pandering to what they feel would be a popular form of
male employment in the province.

That's a pity, and they might do well to rethink their position.  Over
fifty years ago, U.S. President Eisenhower, who had grown up poor,
expressed it best when he said:

  Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket
  fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who
  are hungry and are not fed, by those who are fed and are not
  cold.  The cost of one modern heavy bomber is this: a modern
  brick school in more than 30 cities.  It is two electric
  power plants, each serving a town of 60,000 population.
  It is two fine, equipped hospitals. It is some 50 miles of
  concrete highway.  We pay for a single fighter plane with
  half a million bushels of wheat.....

None of Haiti's presidential candidates are calling for fighter planes
or heavy bombers, thank goodness, but if Haiti is going to advance, it
can scarcely afford to waste public resources.  Throwing money at group
of men so that they can sit idly around barracks all day IS making a
choice, perhaps unconsciously.  Quite beyond the waste of scarce
Haitian resources, creating a potential new source of rural oppression
and encouraging the neighboring Dominican Republic to build up its
military should give all Haitian candidates (and voters) reason for
serious reflection.

Lance Durban