US Humanitarian Aid Looks More Like US Invasion | Black Agenda Report

US Humanitarian Aid Looks More Like US Invasion

Glen Ford, BAR executive editor

20 Jan 2010

🖨️ Print Article

A Black Agenda Radio commentary by Glen Ford

If everything the United States does appears to be related to its imperial mission, that's because it's true. The “U.S. policy of putting the military in charge of, not only disaster relief, but foreign assistance in general, is an outgrowth of the collapse of the Soviet Union.” The attitude is, “If they want American aid, they'll have to accept the U.S. military presence.”

US Humanitarian Aid Looks More Like US Invasion

A Black Agenda Radio commentary by Glen Ford

“U.S. governments regard masses of Black people, first, as potential threats to security, and only second as fellow human beings deserving of assistance.”

It is understandable that many African Americans are making comparisons between the militarized character of the U.S. intervention in Haiti’s earthquake disaster and the federal government’s largely military response to the Katrina catastrophe in New Orleans, four and a half years ago. It is quite reasonable to conclude that the U.S. government is more concerned about law and order issues than in attending to the immediate needs of desperate disaster victims – especially when the victims are Black. History tells us that U.S. governments regard masses of Black people, first, as potential threats to security, and only second as fellow human beings deserving of assistance. Nevertheless, the heavy-handed militarization of U.S. disaster aid to Haiti should be seen in a larger context. As a matter of established American policy, the military has been assigned prime responsibility for U.S. foreign disaster relief, worldwide.

It’s not just Haiti and New Orleans, or Black people in. When the biggest tidal wave in recorded history killed nearly 230,000 people in 14 countries in 2004 – a death toll that some fear may be reached in Haiti – the face of U.S. disaster aid was overwhelmingly military, so much so that the government of Indonesia, the epicenter of the undersea earthquake, was initially hesitant to allow the Americans in. The Pakistani government’s response was much the same the next year, when 80,000 people died in an earthquake. The American “aid” mission to Pakistan looked more like an invasion – which was not an irrational fear, as subsequent events have shown.

“More often than not, the uniformed military is the dispenser of a wide range of U.S. foreign aid in Africa.”

It’s not just disaster relief that has been militarized. The U.S. military command in Africa, AFRICOM, has assumed responsibility for much of the day-to-day duties once performed by the State Department and other civilian agencies. More often than not, the uniformed military is the dispenser of a wide range of U.S. foreign aid in Africa, as part of a general militarization of U.S. relations with the rest of the planet.

This U.S. policy of putting the military in charge of, not only disaster relief, but foreign assistance in general, is an outgrowth of the collapse of the Soviet Union, nearly two decades ago. As the world's only superpower, the Americans began comparing themselves to ancient Rome. If weaker nations recoil at the prospect of American legions stomping around their country, well, that's too bad. If they want American aid, they'll have to accept the U.S. military presence.

The military's dominance in U.S. relations with other nations is also evident in the size of the embassies the U.S. is building around the world. The largest is in Iraq, and is designed more like a junior Pentagon than a civilian facility. The sheer size of the embassy the Americans are building in Pakistan is a huge source of public outrage and fear. And the fifth largest U.S. embassy in the world sits in Haiti, one of the planet's most economically unimportant nations. What purpose could it possibly serve, other than as a U.S. military and and dirty tricks base for the U.S. Southern Command – which now decides what gets in and out of Haiti. For all practical purposes, the U.S. Southern Command is the occupying power in Haiti. What we are observing is imperialism in action, under cover of disaster.

For Black Agenda Radio, I'm Glen Ford. On the web, go to www.BlackAgendaReport.com.

BAR executive editor Glen Ford can be contacted at Glen.Ford@BlackAgendaReport.com.

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles? Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.

More Stories

Sara Flounders
U.S. Government Terrorists Weaponize Subpoenas vs. the Left
29 Jul 2026
The House Ways and Means subpoenas against peace and justice organizations, paired with the State Department's designation of Cuba as the center of global terrorism, represent a coordinated…
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
Black Agenda Radio July 24, 2026
24 Jul 2026
In this week’s segment, we discuss sportswashing and the rationale of the calls to boycott the U.S. and the recent World Cup. But we begin with the Trump administration’s domestic repression and…
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
NSPM-7: The New Rationale for Domestic and Global Fascism
24 Jul 2026
The Trump administration has accelerated its attacks on leftist organizations and individuals while also justifying its genocidal siege of Cuba with the release of the document "Cuba: The Capital of…
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
Sportswashing, the 2026 World Cup, and the Movement to Boycott the U.S.
24 Jul 2026
Austin Cole is a Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) National Co-Coordinator. BAP and other organizations called on the international community to boycott the 2026 World Cup, which was held in the United…
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
Building Black Self-Determination and Ending the Politics of Fear
22 Jul 2026
Black political self-determination is always tenuous, even when Black people hold office. Now that DSA and other leftists are winning elections, the contradictions of Black politics are becoming more…