Photo by Mr StuckeFelix Salmon was the first to throw a wet towel on the feelings of philanthropy and common cause that have led so many Americans to donate to a number of charities supporting emergency aid for beleaguered Haiti. For Reuters, Salmon writes:
[R]ight now there’s very little that can be done with the money. There are myriad bottlenecks and obstacles involved in getting help to the Haitians who need it, but lack of funds is not one of them. For the next few weeks, help will come largely from governments, who are also spending hundreds of millions of dollars and mobilizing thousands of soldiers to the cause. But with the UN alone seeking to raise $550 million, it’s going to be easy to say that all the money donated to date isn’t remotely enough.
The problem is that Haiti, if it wasn’t a failed state before the earthquake, is almost certainly a failed state now — and one of the lessons we’ve learned from trying to rebuild failed states elsewhere in the world is that throwing money at the issue is very likely to backfire.
Salmon goes on to explain that a nation with no cranes at its ports cannot unload crates of supplies. Nor can a country with only one functioning airport accommodate every incoming relief flight: Two crucial delivery flights from Médecins Sans Frontières were prevented from landing and diverted to Dominican Republic. Salmon says the way to go is to continue donating to organizations like MSF but to give unrestricted donations — which can be used in areas where money can make a greater difference.
In his reporting, Salmon notes a Smoking Gun article on Yéle, the Haiti-based aid organization championed by Wyclef Jean. That organization is the beneficent of a charity concert bringing Wale, Tabi Bonney, and other DMV hip-hop personnel to the 9:30 Club. It turns out that Yéle has some questionable financial records, including payouts to Wyclef Jean and the studio he owns for hundreds of thousands of dollars and scant tax filings.
