The situation in Haiti is very serious. Gangs have taken over much of the country and most of Port-au-Prince. The condition facing women and children in the country is serious. The lack of food is serious. It's truly a deeply troubling situation.
We are responding with a basic principle in mind: It's really a primary responsibility of the government—and frankly the people of Haiti and the political leadership of Haiti—to take the assistance that's being offered and to do everything they can to restore public order and then to restore a democratic path for the country towards an election.
There are people who say the Haitians can't do it on their own. The government has indicated that it wants to try to make that happen. It wants to create the conditions in which that can happen. The support that we're offering is frankly unprecedented, and we're going to do more. We're working hard to make sure not only that civil order can be restored but also that civil rights can be maintained. We don't think that order and rights are contradictory. We think you need to have both. You not only need to have public safety, but you also need to make sure that you have democratic rights that are respected.
Right now, the gang violence is terrible, and the disrespect by the gangs for the people of Haiti is appalling. We have to do everything we can to disrupt the gangs but do it in a way that puts the forces of Haiti in the forefront.
The reason we're doing that is that there are serious consequences to other forms of interventions that we need to appreciate. Not all previous interventions have been successful and sustainable. It's that principle of sustainability that we have to continue to keep our focus on. That's really what we're trying to do.