Democrats like to whine about how the entire world hates the United States. What they really mean is that the socialists in Europe hates us. Most of the world actually loves the United States, as you can see by the amount of people anxious to immigrate here year after year. Part of this is surely because the United States is one of the most generous countries in the world, if not the most. Whenever there is a crisis or catastrophe, Americans are there to help, giving money, donating food, sending our military on humanitarian issues, and some will actually fly to the area in crisis to help rebuild. During the tsunami in 2004, for example, the United States provided $350 million. The earthquake in Haiti is no different. We’ve been sending troops to help with humanitarian relief. We’ve pledged money.

And how are the socialists responding to our generosity? They’re whining.

The first time U.S. Marines landed in Haiti, they stayed nearly 20 years.

It was 1915, and President Woodrow Wilson dispatched 330 Marines to “re-establish peace and order” after the Caribbean nation saw six presidents in four years either killed or forced into exile. The U.S. occupied Haiti until 1934. American troops returned in 1994 in an ultimately abortive attempt by then-President Bill Clinton to reinstall Haiti’s exiled president to power.

Now the Marines are back for a very different mission.

Black Hawk helicopters whirred down onto the manicured lawn of Haiti’s presidential palace Tuesday, delivering hundreds of U.S. troops who have transformed the National Palace into an earthquake aid depot in the center of Port-au-Prince. About 12,000 American troops are already on the ground or anchored offshore, organizing everything from aid drops to air traffic.

But for some skeptics of American power, the image of U.S. soldiers taking over the wrecked symbol of Haiti’s sovereignty conjures less than favorable comparisons to other places where America has used its military might — Iraq, Afghanistan and the like. France’s international cooperation minister, Alain Joyandet, even accused Washington of trying to “occupy” Haiti and urged the United Nations to investigate.

… Joyandet complained after a French aid flight carrying a field hospital was turned back from Port-au-Prince’s overtaxed airport last week. The angry minister reportedly got into a physical confrontation with the U.S. official in charge of air traffic control. The French plane landed safely the next day.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy intervened quickly, praising Washington’s “exceptional mobilization” and “essential role … on the ground” in Haiti. But the whole row was embarrassing, especially with so many Haitians still suffering.

Other prominent U.S. critics have voiced similar, if predictable, concerns. In his weekly television address, Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez accused the U.S. of “occupying Haiti in an undercover manner.”

Occupying Haiti? Are these people literally insane?! The Haitians certainly don’t mind us being there.

On the Haitian side, government officials pleaded for U.S. help and throngs of survivors cheered when American helicopters ferried hundreds of soldiers onto the palace grounds. People who have gone eight days without food or water have far more pressing concerns than politics.

“We are happy they are coming, because we have so many problems,” hairdresser Fede Felissaint told a Scottish newspaper reporter in Port-au-Prince. He said he did not mind that U.S. troops were taking up positions at the palace.

“If they want, they can stay longer than in 1915,” Felissaint said, smiling.

So, the Haitians are glad that we’re there. Their government is pleading for us to help. They’re cheering our soldiers as they arrive. There are hundreds of thousands of people dead, and millions more still in need. Buildings have been completely leveled.

The real question is this: is the French reaction over nothing more than pride and jealousy?

Underlying the episode is a tangible sense of hurt pride that France — Haiti’s former colonial master — is relegated to a secondary role there while U.S. officials take charge. France has long regarded Haiti as part of its own sphere of influence, and French is still the official language there.

Regardless, Joyandet’s comments have stoked ire among Americans proud of what their military is doing in Haiti. “One has to wonder if Minister Alain Joyandet perceived the U.S. Army as an occupying force in France in 1944-1945 when it liberated his country,” wrote Tim McDonald, a columnist for Indiana’s News and Tribune newspapers.

Sure seems like pride and jealousy to me. It’s sad, too, because this is immaturity at its worst. The United States is doing good work in Haiti, work that is desperately needed, and all Monsieur Joyandet is doing is whining. Why? Does he feel we should have stood back and let the French do everything, and deprive Haiti of the valuable resources we can give them? It doesn’t really seem like he has the well-being of Haiti as his first priority.

Americans are some of the most generous people on the planet. Perhaps the French should follow our example if they want to be number one in humanitarian efforts. If they did that, perhaps the people in the video below would be chanting France instead of USA.

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