The question at hand is: who will oversee them? History provides some examples of benign governorship of countries not yet ready for self-government.
So far, at least, the Haiti catastrophe has not become a partisanissue as Hurricane Katrina did. It undoubtedly helped that PresidentObama quickly enlisted ex-Presidents Clinton and Bush to spearhead thefundraising effort. But it is important, as reconstruction work begins,that the United States and the family of nations agree on some centralauthority to supervise what may be the creation of a new state.
Obamaspeaks of “a path to a brighter future.” Under the stopgap arrangementin effect since the earthquake, the United States and the UnitedNations handle much of the flow of aid in cooperation with the Haitiangovernment, they say. But President Rene Preval’s government, for allpractical purposes, does not exist. It lies in ruins in the rubble ofthe presidential palace and other government buildings.