They were already called “miracle rescues,” when people were being pulled alive from beneath the ruins in Haiti on day six, and on day seven when at least seven people trapped beneath the ruins were rescued as hopes to find any more survivors were fading. Most search and rescue experts said then that chances to find any more living beneath the rubble were rather small. But the miracles kept coming. On day eight more “miracle rescues,” including those of two small children. Aid groups said...

It is strange how disasters, the desire to help out the victims, and political, diplomatic and military issues and sensitivities can sometimes merge into a potential international crisis. That’s what is apparently happening as Taiwan is dispatching a military aircraft carrying aid for earthquake-hit Haiti. According to Reuters, the aircraft has to refuel in the U.S. on its way to Haiti, and the U.S. will allow it to land “in the United States for the first time, a U.S. official said on Friday,...

A few days ago, in “Haiti: The U.S, Military Steps Up to the Plate” and in subsequent updates, I highlighted and commended the initial relief efforts by our military in the wake of the Haiti earthquake. In this one, I commented on, and hopefully debunked, preposterous allegations by French Cooperation Minister Alain Joyandet, Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez, Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega and a few others that the U.S. was “invading” Haiti. It is now time to provide an update on the progress of...

The disaster in Haiti has brought out both the best and the worst in people. A man of God, Pat Robertson, suggested that Haiti’s catastrophic misfortunes flowed from the “fact” that ancestors of the present victims made a pact with the devil. Fortunately, a flood of prayers and goodwill for the victims drowned out such drivel. A famous entertainer, Rush Limbaugh, derided, politicized and tried to create mistrust over the U.S. government’s urging Americans to donate to humanitarian aid...

The BBC World Service has a unique daily discussion program, “World Have Your Say,” where the BBC provides a platform for a world-wide discussion of topics of general interest, and facilitates live exchanges between and among BBC staff, invited guests, and callers from all over the world. Today’s subject was, of course, the Haiti catastrophe—more specifically how “Once again, in a crisis, the world turns to the U.S. to sort it out….” I was flattered to have been asked by the BBC...

Much has been written in the past few days, both electronically and with ink, about the horror and the tears that is Haiti now. But Haiti has known horror and tears and tragedy for much too long. That horror and those tears have been amply recorded for at least the past 50 years “in a remarkably vivid and sophisticated Haitian literature [that] has been flowing out of Creole, an ever-evolving language as fecund as the English of Shakespeare’s time.” This, according to Madison Smart Bell in...

The Guardian reports that cruise ships are still docking at private beaches some 60 miles from Haiti’s devastated earthquake zone, where “passengers enjoy jetski rides, parasailing and rum cocktails delivered to their hammocks.” Apparently Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines struggled over “a difficult decision over whether to dock as per itinerary at Labadee Beach, Haiti after last week’s tragic quake,” but decided to dock anyway, a decision that has divided passengers. Many passengers...

It has been said that disasters, such as the Haiti earthquake, bring out the best in people. If you have been reading my posts on governmental, U.S. military, civilian and private humanitarian and relief efforts being provided by some wonderful organizations and people to the desperate survivors in Haiti, I hope you’ll agree that this is true. As a matter of fact, while the 2009 recession caused a decline in charitable contributions in the United States, “the outpouring of donations to Haiti...

As a former military, I have naturally been impressed by and have publicized the lead role taken by the U.S. military in bringing humanitarian assistance and relief to devastated Haiti. Of course, the U.S. military are not alone in performing such efforts. Many other countries, and their military, and many other governmental and non-governmental civilian and private organizations are also providing invaluable aid and services. Since I have been mainly praising and highlighting the U.S. military...

As is usual in most international disasters, the United States of America is leading the world in providing humanitarian aid to the victims of the Haiti earthquake. And, as always, the U.S. military is spearheading such relief efforts. The following are headlines and excerpts about some of these efforts that have appeared in various publications during the past 48 hours. Mullen: 10,000 troops on scene by Monday Military Times: Up to 10,000 U.S. troops will be off Haiti’s shores by Monday to...

In the wake of the horrific human tragedy in Haiti, there has been an outpouring of support for the victims, including the prayers of millions. And, in the face of such unfathomable pain and suffering, it is understandable that some desperate Haitians would think that God is angry at them or that God has “really got it in for Haiti.” That is exactly what Pooja Bhatia heard from some dazed survivors while hiking through the ruins of Port-au-Prince Tuesday night. In an Op-Ed for the New York...

This is the third post on today’s big news in the Netherlands, the release of the Davids Commission report on its investigation into the Dutch government’s decision-making process and policies during the run-up to the U.S. invasion of Iraq. My previous posts were based on my own translations of Dutch reports in the Dutch newspaper the NRC Handeslblad. In translating politically sensitive documents and articles one has to always be careful to convey to the reader the intent, the tenor and the...

Under the heading, “Blankenende [the Dutch Prime Minister] had no grasp on Iraq policy,” the Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad publishes additional comments and reactions to today’s unveiling of the Davids Commission report on the Dutch government’s policies leading up to the Iraq invasion. The following are some translated excerpts. The entire translation will be available at Watching America (watchingamerica.com) later. The American-British invasion of Iraq in 2003 lacked a mandate under...

The “Davids Commission,” an independent Dutch commission chaired by Willibrord Davis, former head of the Dutch Supreme Court, released its 551-page report today on the Dutch government’s decisions surrounding the invasion of Iraq. The report, months in the making, provides the results of an investigation into the political support given by the Netherlands to the Bush administration’s decision to invade Iraq. The Associated Press reports that the Davids Commission charges that ”the...

Although, in my opinion, we are running out of places to visit that are truly laid-back, charming and unspoiled, we were fortunate to find just such a place very close to the more “upscale” Cancún, a resort we visit each year and where, five years ago, we met a lady called “Wilma.” An article in the travel section of the New York Times, just about one year ago, describing an idyllic place, Puerto Morelos, caught my wife’s attention. She immediately clipped it and carried it...

David Goldman, the father of the little boy who was abducted to Brazil five years ago, fought a more than heroic battle to get his son, Sean Goldman, back. Actually, it was a monumental battle against a powerful, affluent, politically well-connected Brazilian family and against a less than just Brazilian justice system—a battle of classic David vs. Goliath proportions. But, while David Goldman was certainly the indefatigable fighter, the relentless warrior, the modern day Don Quixote and...

For many months I have been writing in support of publicly honoring our fallen heroes when they touch American soil at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware—of course, with the approval of the family of each hero. On February 26, 2009, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced a policy consistent with what we presently have at Arlington National Cemetery which allows the family to decide whether to allow media coverage. On April 5, the Defense Department implemented the policy. The new policy...

In my “Texas Aggies, Dallas Cowboys and Fútbol Americano,” and in the spirit of a long-standing “tradition,” I took a few good-natured shots at our arch-rivals, the University of Texas Longhorns. I even had a few amicable words for the Longhorns mascot, Bevo: [Players] who invariably brought a dumb-looking steer named Bevo onto the football field—obviously to intimidate the Aggies and our little mascot Collie, Reveille. The (football) rivalry between these two great universities goes...

Just as English is an acquired language, “American football” is an acquired sport for me. However, unlike English (in which I have become somewhat proficient), after many years of trying, I still don’t fully understand this “fútbol Americano.” Don’t get me wrong; just as I have come to love my adopted country, I have come to love American football, albeit it has been a very intriguing relationship. My first exposure to football was as an undergraduate student at Texas A&M. After...

Apparently I am not the only one who has taken umbrage at Dick Cheney’s shameful attack on President Obama, using the Christmas Day attempted attack on Northwest Flight 253 strictly for political gain. Among Cheney’s outrageous accusations was his “As I’ve watched the events of the last few days it is clear once again that President Obama is trying to pretend we are not at war.” In a Washington Post column yesterday, Eugene Robinson takes Dick Cheney to task and, of course,...

Way back in early June, when Mr. Cheney was well into his “Obama is soft on terrorism” tour, Frank Rich wrote a column in the New York Times titled, “Who Is to Blame for the Next Attack?” In his piece, Rich rightly condemned Cheney’s attempts to once again “using lies and fear… rewrite history and escape accountability for the failed Bush presidency…” Rich was referring to Cheney’s infamous “no middle ground” speech on torture at the American Enterprise Institute, and also...

The Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad is commenting on a just-released, preliminary Dutch government report on “what happened at the Dutch airport where the would-be bomber transferred.” Parts of what the Handelsblad is reporting: “It would not be exaggerating to say the world has escaped a disaster,” Dutch home affairs minister Guusje ter Horst said at a press conference on Wednesday. But she added that although Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab’s thwarted attack on flight NW253 from...

The Dutch press has been quite busy with reports and opinions on the failed attack on Northwest flight 253. Some have been published or commented on here. This was to be expected as the flight originated in the Netherlands; Schiphol airport’s security—or lack of it—played a key role; and “the hero of flight 253” was Dutch. A lot of the discussion on, and even justification for, the failure in security has centered on privacy rights. In an Editorial today in the Dutch NRC Handelsblad,...

I have been a strong and vocal supporter of equal rights for all: whites and blacks, straights and gays, men and women. With respect to the latter, men and women, I am delighted at how far women have come in recent years at achieving full equality with men. I am also pleased at how women are increasingly accepted and integrated into our armed forces, albeit they still have a long way to go here—as noted in “Full Participation for Our Women at Arms.” I have also strongly supported women...

The Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad reports today that Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport was not using special millimeter wave scanners that would have detected the explosive powder that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab used to set off the fizzled explosion aboard Northwest flight 253. According to Schiphol airport spokesperson Mirjam Snoerwang, “European regulations tell us we can only put people through them on a voluntary basis. And objections have been raised with regards to privacy.” She also...