The U.S. Needs to Get the Hell Out of Haiti

The White House is spearheading a military intervention in Haiti. This is a horrible idea.

Photo by Richard Pierrin / AFP via Getty Images

Haiti is in crisis. Fuel prices are out of control, ruthless gangs have taken much of society hostage, and the ruling administration is a corrupt, illegitimate farce. Cholera is spreading throughout the country.

Haitians have taken to the streets in their thousands to protest this horrifying state of affairs. But the international response is one you might be familiar with: bring in the troops.

The U.S., Canada, and Mexico are leading a push at the United Nations to send a multinational military force to Haiti; on Wednesday, the Miami Herald reported that the White House expects “the dimensions of a force to be settled by early November.” It’s unclear whether U.S. troops will be involved directly in this effort, but Biden’s fingerprints will be all over whatever army descends on Haiti.

Some are welcoming the prospect. The Washington Post editorial board, which has been clamoring to put troops on the ground, cheered last week, “At last, the U.S. edges toward intervening in Haiti.”

There are two things wrong with this sentiment. First, the idea that the U.S. has not been intervening already in Haiti is ridiculous. Secondly, it is precisely because of that intervention that Haiti finds itself in such turmoil and misery right now. Haitians desperately need less outside involvement in their lives, not more.