U.S. hegemony in the Western hemisphere: good or bad?

Today brings the news that U.S. troops are establishing an aid station at the presidential palace in Port Au Prince, the symbolic center of the Haitian government. There has been little sense of who is in charge in Haiti. The president, René Préval, been largely out of sight and some critical needs still, a week later, stand neglected.

Enter the great Leviathan: America. The secretary of state and CNN on the ground, the President himself surrounded by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Secretary of Defense, Vice President, Secretary of State, Ambassador to the UN and the head of U.S. AID, telling Haiti "help is on the way." Now U.S. military helicopters and troops stand in front of the palace, delivering aid to the suffering and attempting to establish order in what has often been a chaotic and lawless scene.

How, one may wonder, is this a bad thing?

Well, according to Hugo Chavez, the anti-American evangelical and even some Haitians themselves, this represents yet another example of the United States asserting its hegemony in the region. They want the U.S. to leave Haiti. Yes, you heard that right. There are many who want the U.S. to leave Haiti, even in the midst of suffering, aid bottlenecks and destruction. Chavez, who says the U.S. is"taking advantage of the tragedy" has even offered the Haitian people "however much fuel is needed." The French cooperation minister Alain Joyandet has even demanded an investigation into U.S. aid efforts.

This unfortunate situation and the criticism demonstrates how politics colors everything, even within a massive tragedy.

First, it is undeniable military aid is needed. There is a power vacuum in Haiti. Nothing demonstrates this more than the fact that the very presidential palace that serves as the symbol of Haiti sits in ruins. Looting and some violence have broken out. Second, geopolitical realities dictate that no nation in the world would send troops to Haiti without close U.S. involvement and cooperation. The only nation that can establish a military presence in Haiti quickly is the U.S.

This also serves as yet another example of the extreme damage the Iraq war has done to America's standing internationally. To some people, the image of U.S. troops on foreign soil automatically carries with it something sinister.

Even if you are against U.S. hegemony and the ability of a nation to, for all intents and purposes, take over another country in the region with such speed, how can you be against the use of that hegemony towards positive ends, to the extent that you would allow people to suffer, to die? I'm sorry Mr. Chavez. The Haitian people need food. They need medicine. As a friend told me today, they cannot drink oil.

What I'm reading:

To Help Haiti, End Foreign Aid, Bret Stephens, Wall St. Journal
What I saw in Haiti, Ban Ki-Moon, Washington Post
Time for Leadership, Times of London