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Source:KatzJM.Slate,March30,2017.

HalfwaythroughherconfirmationhearinginJanuary,thenomineeforU.S.ambassadortotheUnitedNations,NikkiHaley,foundherselfnavigatingariverofhumanwasteinHaiti.Somesuspectedthethen–president-electhadpickedtheSouthCarolinagovernor,whohadnoforeignpolicyexperience,inordertoexileapotentialrivaltoaninstitutionhe’sderidedas“awasteoftimeandmoney.”Butfortwoandahalfhours,assenatorsprobedheronplaceslikeNorth Korea, Ukraine, and Israel, the nominee held her own, shoring up talking points withgovernor’sofficebanter.That’swhenSen.EdMarkey,thejuniorDemocratfromMassachusetts,askedaboutacrisisthatthreatensnothinglessthanthelegitimacyoftheUnitedNationsitself.Thecrisisisthecholeraepidemic inHaiti, a still-unfolding catastrophe that all available evidence showsbeganwhenU.N.peacekeepersfromNepal infectedthecountry’smost importantriversysteminOctober2010. Yet still, aftermore than 10,000 people have died and incalculable damage has beendonetoacountrytheUnitedNationssworetoprotect,noonehasbeenheldaccountable.

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Haley’sfirststabatananswerreflectedtheconfusionattheheartofthenewadministration’sforeignpolicy.“WhathappenedinHaitiisjustnothingshortofdevastating,”shesaid.“It'salsowhyIthinkit’ssoimportantthatthecontributingcountriestakeresponsibilityandtakeactionsagainstthoseviolatorsthataredoinganythingtoharmthepeoplethatthey’resupposedtobeprotecting.”Butthatisn’thowU.N.peacekeepingworks,Markeyreplied.Nepalhadn’tinvadedHaitionitsown:ItstroopswerepartofamultinationalforcecreatedbytheSecurityCouncil,specificallyatthe behest of the George W. Bush administration in 2004. For the 13 years since, it hasremained in Haiti largely to carry out U.S. policy—at a discount. So Markey rephrased thequestion,askingifHaleyagreedthat“alloftheothercountriesthatusetheNepalesemilitaryastheiragent…beheldaccountableaswell,financially.”Realizingwhatshewasbeingaskedtoendorse,Haleysidesteppedtheissue.Afewdayslater,inawrittenfollow-up,shebackpedaledfurther,sayingshe“wouldneedtobefullybriefedonthisissueinordertoprovideacompleteresponse.”SheisnotthefirstU.S.officialtoduckthequestion.Asseeninnewlyrevealedemails,reportedhereforthefirsttime,officialsatthehighestlevelsoftheU.S.governmentwereawarealmostimmediately that U.N. forces likely played a role in the outbreak.Multiple federal agencies,fromnationalsecurityofficialstoscientistsonthefrontlines,shieldedtheUnitedNationsfromaccountability toprotect theorganizationandthemselves.Obama’sU.N.ambassadors,SusanRice and Samantha Power, dodged the issue as the administration danced between oftencontradictorygoalsofprotectinghumanrights,assertingAmericandominance,anddefendinganinstitutioncentraltoitsmultilateraldiplomacy.As he left office inDecember,U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moonwas forced to grudginglyapologizefortheorganization’sroleinpoisoningHaiti’swatershedandproposeaplantoendtheepidemic.Memberstates,however,arerefusingtoprovidethe$400millionhepromised.Theresultisanever-deepeninghealthcrisisinwhichaboutoneHaitiandiesfromcholeraperday,amidincalculablecosttothecountry’seconomyandsocialfabric.Thoseactionsandinactionsfosteredmistrustanddamagedreputations—includingSecretaryofState Hillary Clinton’s—helping pave the way for the first explicitly anti-humanitarian U.S.presidencyinacentury.TrumpmockstheU.N.as“justaclubforpeopletogettogether,talkandhaveagoodtime.”HisadviserswanttoslashU.S.fundingfortheUnitedNationsbymorethan$5billionaspartofanefforttoguttheforeignandglobalhealthaidthathasbeenapillarofU.S.foreignpolicysincetheendofWorldWarII.Butthepastwillnotbeeasytocastoff.Afteracenturypositioningitselfastheworldorder’sindispensable leader—often through U.S-based global organs like the U.N.—America has alegacy that runs deep in every part of the globe. Trump inherited control of not only the

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globalized,U.S.-dominatedeconomyhispredecessorshelpedcreate,buttherefugeesoftheirwars and the increasingly urgent consequences of environmental ruin. Andnowhere are thestakesofthatlegacyasclearasinHaiti.

***

On Oct. 20, 2010, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the firstrecorded cholera outbreak in Haitian history. Within days, 300 people would be dead. In acountrywherefewhadcleanwater,adequatesanitation,or immunitytothedisease,expertsknew the waterborne infection could rip through the island like lightning through anungroundedswimmingpool.Sixdayslater,asenioranalystintheCDC’sGlobalDiseaseDetectionOperationsCenteremailedhis colleagueswith a less scientific concern. TheCDC’s jobwas to provide front-linemedicalresponders with field and lab research to back up their work. As a standard CDC referencepaperputit:“Whenoutbreaksofdiseaseoccur,thereusuallyisanurgentneedtoidentifythesourceand/orcauseoftheproblemasabasisforcontrol.”But the analyst, Rohit Chitale, wasn’t writing about finding the source. He was relaying aconcernfromhigherupintheU.S.governmentthatsomeoneelsealreadyhad.“TherearemanyrumorscirculatinginthemediaandblogospherethattheoriginsofcholerainHaiti are from Nepalese or Bangladeshi UN soldiers,” he wrote colleagues in four CDCdepartments, in an email disclosed under a Freedom of Information Act request. “This hasbeendiscussedonourCDCcallsatleastonce,Ibelieve.IheardfromsomeoneattheNationalSecurityCouncilthattheyareveryconcernedaboutthisissue.”CDC scientists in Atlanta were analyzing cholera samples at the time. “If the genomic datacomes back indicating that this is true, we may want to have appropriate health

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[communication]materialsready,”Chitalewrote.“ThelastthingwewouldwantisforHaitianstoblametheUNsoldiersinaperniciousway.”TheNationalSecurityCouncilistheU.S.government’shighest-leveldefense-planningbody.ItschairmanisthepresidentoftheUnitedStates.What’sfascinatinghereisthetiming:Thefirstinternational news report linking the U.N. to the outbreak—my dispatch for the AssociatedPress—would not appear until a day later, Oct. 27. It would take a handful of journalists,university labs,andindependentepidemiologists,oftenworkingatoddswiththeU.N.anditsallies, weeksmore to gather evidence cinching the conclusion. Thanks in part to aggressiveofficialdenialandpushbackinthepress,mostpeopleoutsideHaitiwouldnotlearnabouttheprobablelinkformonths,ifnotyears.TheU.N.wouldcontinuedenyinganyinvolvementintheoutbreakuntilitfinallyadmittedin2016havingplayedarole.Bythen,atleast800,000peopleinHaitihadbeensickenedandofficiallymorethan9,500killed,withexpertsestimatingtherealtollcouldbetwoorthreetimeshigher.Yetlessthanaweekaftertheoutbreakwasconfirmed,topofficialsinWashingtontaskedwithglobal issuesofwarandpeacewerealreadyconcernedaboutwhattheoutbreakmightmeanfortheU.N.Inaphoneinterview,ChitalecouldnotrecallwherehisNSCcontactgottheirinformation.AnNSCspokesmandeclinedmultiplerequestsforcomment.StateDepartmentofficialswouldnotsaywhenorhowtheylearnedthattheU.N.waslikelyresponsiblefortheoutbreak.What is clear is that U.S. experts and officials followed an immediate instinct tomove intodamagecontrol.Minutesafter receivingChitale’semail, thedirectorof theCDC’semergencyoperationsdivision forwarded it to fourotherseniorcolleagues.Oneof them,aveteranCDCepidemiologist named Muireann Brennan, noted that another in the group was a scientist“alreadyworkingonadocumentthatwillsaywhatwecanandcan’tsay”aboutthependinglabresults.Thescientist,ArunmozhiBalajee,respondedimmediately.“Ineedhelpwiththisdocument,”hewrote.“Iampredictingthisisonlygoingtobecomeworse.”

***WhencholerabrokeoutincentralHaiti,boththeUnitedStatesandU.N.wereheavilyinvolvedontheisland.Ninemonthsearlier,amagnitude7.0earthquakehadstruckthesouthernpartofthe country, killing an estimated 100,000 to 316,000 people. Obama had declared hiscommitment to save lives in Haiti, which advisers hoped would signal a break from hispredecessor’s disastrous foreign policy and much-criticized response to Hurricane Katrina.Thousandsofrespondersandbillionsofdollarshadbeendedicatedtotherecovery.TheU.S.was also funding a crucial election in Haiti, for which the peacekeeping force—the U.N.StabilizationMission inHaiti, orMINUSTAH—was taskedwithoverseeing security. ProtectingtheU.N.wasapriority.

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Thegenomic testsdiscussed in theOct.26emails revealed that theHaiti samplesdidmatchisolatesfromSouthAsia,includingNepal,andequallyimportant,thattheHaitiisolatesallcamefrom a single source. Those findings bolstered the hypothesis that U.N. troops—the onlysignificant South Asian population on Haiti’s sparsely populated central plateau—introducedthedisease.Inthedocumentwrittenfollowingthediscussionabout“whatwecanandcan’tsay,”theCDCscientists added a prominent caveat: without further evidence, the genomic tests alone did“not prove that the outbreak strain was brought directly from South Asia to Haiti.” ThiscautiousnesswouldbeechoedformonthsasCDCscientistspubliclycastdoubtonwhetherananswercouldeverbefound.The truthwas that neither the CDCnor its partners in theU.N. systemmade an attempt touncoverthatevidence.FromOct.21to23,CDCandHaitianhealthministryinvestigatorsvisitedhospitalsinthelowerArtiboniteRiverValley, interviewing27patientswholivedorworkedinrice paddies nearby, according to the CDC. Eighteen said they had drunk untreated waterbeforegettingsick.Yetnoeffortwasmadetofigureoutwhichwatersourcewasputtingthematrisk.TheCDCalsoknewsomeofthefirststoolsamplessenttothenationallaboratoryhadcomefromvillages50milesuptheAriboniteRiver,aroundthetownofMirebalais—includingMèyé, the villagewhere theU.N. basewas located. But, the CDC openly acknowledges, theAmericansdidnotgotheretoinvestigate.In a recent interview, Jordan Tappero, then the incident manager for the Haiti choleraresponse,saidtheCDCdidnothaveenoughresourcestoaddressthosequestionsaswellastorespond to other elements of the outbreak. “Ourmissionwas to save lives, andwe had noroomfordistraction,”hetoldme.CDCinterventionsprobablyhelpedlowerthedeathratebyseveralthousand,hesaid.Yetdespitehavingfarfewerresources,Haiti’shealthministrysentitsownteamstoinvestigatetheareaaroundMirebalaisonOct.19and21,wheretheyfound15likelycasesofcholera.NoonefromtheCDCaccompaniedthem.The emails show howmuch the CDC’s incuriosity frustrated other scientists. In a December2010emailthread,Bangladesh-basedcholeraexpertAlejandroCraviotomentionedthathehad“not seen a single note about cultures done to the UN soldiers in Haiti or on a goodenvironmentalsampling.”PeterGerner-Smidt,apointmanontheCDC’scholeraoutbreaktaskforce, responded: “The whole thing about how the strain was introduced into Haiti is sopolitical[sic]inflamedthatitprobablyisnotpossibletodoaproperscientificassessment.”CDC epidemiologist EricMintz chimed in: “I fully agree with Peter’s assessment.” Two daysearlier,MintzhadpouredcoldwateronthelinkbetweentheU.N.andtheepidemicinaCNNinterview,citingalackofevidence.

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Meanwhile,theU.N.troopsdestroyedevidenceattheirbase,includingdiggingupleakingpipesanddrainingseptictanks,beforescientistscouldexamineit.“TocallCDC’slackofinterestunusualisanunderstatement,”RalphR.Frerichs,foundingchairof the University of California at Los Angeles’ epidemiology department, wrote in his 2016book,DeadlyRiver:CholeraandCover-UpinPost-EarthquakeHaiti.Thestonewallinghadconsequences. InNovember2010,angerover theU.N.’s refusal togiveanswersspilledoverintofieryprotestsinnorthernHaiti.Youngmenpeltedpeacekeeperswithrocks.Atleastthreeprotesterswerekilled.Under pressure, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed a four-scientist panel toinvestigate.Craviotoledthegroup,stoppingatCDCheadquartersinAtlantaonhiswaytoHaitiinFebruary2011.Butafterfourmonthsofdelaysandtheactivedestructionofevidence,therewasnotmuchforinvestigatorstofind.TheirMay2011reportstronglysuggestedtheU.N.wasresponsiblefortheepidemicbutlackeddefinitiveproof.In 2013, the same four scientists authored a new report which stated more positively that“personnel associatedwith theMirebalaisMINUSTAH facilitywere themost likely source ofintroduction of cholera intoHaiti.” However, the scientists cautioned, that conclusionwouldalwaysbepartially indoubtbecause “it isnotpossible to travelback in time to conduct thenecessary investigations,and thoseon thegroundat the time focusedonoutbreak responsenotsourceintroduction.”Fortheirpart,theU.S.governmentscientistsdonotbelievetheyabettedacover-up.Tappero,nowdirectoroftheCDC’sDivisionofGlobalHealthProtection,wasquicktoemphasizetheroleof Haitian behavior in our interview—telling me that Haitians don’t experience “shameassociatedwithopendefecation.”Yet thosesamescientistsaremuchmorecautiouswhen itcomestotalkingaboutthewell-documented,dangerouslynegligentsanitationpracticesoftheU.N.orthemountingproofshowinghowtheirnegligencecostthousandsoflives.Ironically,itmayhavebeenpartlytheveryobviousnessoftheoutbreak’soriginthatledtoU.S.governmentscientists’ lackof interest inproving it. “Wefocuseda lotmoreontheresponseversustheattribution,butthat’sbecausewefiguredyeah,itprobablydidcomefromtheU.N,”Chitaletoldme.

***OtherU.S. government agencieshavebeen less forthcomingwith information than theCDC.AskedwhenandhowtheU.S.governmentlearnedabouttheU.N.’sroleintheepidemic,andwhat should be done, the State Department responded that the “U.S. government has nottakenapositiononthevalidityoftheunderlyingclaimsinthisparticularcase.”

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Buttheavailableemailsshowthat,whetherby instinctorcoordination,multiplegovernmentdepartments closed ranks to defend the U.N. In November 2010, an official from CDC’sEmergencyOperations Center relayed a request from theDepartment ofHealth andHumanServices for a one-paragraph summary of “whywedon't think you can tellwhere the straincamefromevenwithgeneticanalysis.”ADecember2010interagencymemotodozensofStateDepartment,DefenseDepartment,andUSAIDofficialsinstructedpressliaisonstotellanyreporterswhoasked:“Bottomlineisunlessan investigationwasdonebefore thecholeraspread… it cannotbesaiddefinitively that thesourcewasasanitationsiteat[theU.N.]camp.”TheU.S.alsosidedagainstHaiti’scholeravictimsinotherkeyways.ThousandsofvictimsandtheirfamiliespetitionedtheU.N.forredressin2011,seekingmoneytostoptheepidemicandassistthemillionsofpeopledirectlyandindirectlyharmed.WhentheU.N.refusedtoheartheirclaims,lawyerswiththeInstituteforJusticeandDemocracyinHaitisuedtheUnitedNationsinU.S. federalcourt. JusticeDepartment lawyersappeared intheU.N.’ssteadtoarguethattheU.N.’s absolute immunity from legal process under a 1947 treaty meant the suit should bethrownout.Thefederaljudgesagreed.WiththelawsuitderailedandadamninginternalreportontheU.N.cover-upmadepublic,BanKi-moonfinallyofferedalimitedapologytoHaitionDec.1,2016,thefirstdayofhislastmonthassecretary-general.ButU.N.lawyerseditedthestatementsothoroughlythatBanneversaidwhathewasapologizing forother thannothavingdone“enoughwith regard to thecholeraoutbreakanditsspread.”

Bythattime,cholerahadsurgedagaininHaitiafterHurricaneMatthewsmashedthroughthecountry’sfarsouthwesternpeninsulainOctober2016.LauraChateau,a26-year-oldnursefromsouthwestern Haiti, left her storm-devastated hometown of Les Cayes to help neighboring

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villagesbeingravagedbydisease.“Rightafterthehurricaneitwasraining,raining,raining,withfloods for days,” she told me. “People got infected and the water got contaminated. Webroughtaid,butthereweren’tenoughresources.”Philip Alston, a New York University law professor and U.N. adviserwhose advocacy helpedpromptBan’sapology,saystheUnitedNations’refusaltoacceptlegalresponsibilityiscoveredwithU.S. fingerprints.“ThereasonwhytheU.N.hasdonenothingaboutHaiti forthe lastsixyearsisessentiallylegaladvicethatiscomingfromtheU.S.StateDepartmentandthenechoedby theU.N.OfficeofLegalAffairs.… It’sa totally inhumane, ruthless lawyerly tactic that justblocksoutallofthehumanitarianconsiderations,andallofthereputationalcostsfortheU.N.”U.N. officials proposed a $400million effort to be voluntarily funded bymember states. Asinitiallyconceived,abouthalfthemoneywouldpayforhealthandsanitationtoeradicatethedisease,andtherestwouldgotoHaitianvictims, their familiesandcommunities.So faronlyFrance,India,Liechtenstein,Chile,andBan’snativeSouthKoreahaveponiedup,foratotalofroughly$2million.TheUnitedKingdompledgeda fewhundred thousand.Canadaand Japanpromisedtoseparatelyredirectaidmoneytotheeffort.Sympathetic U.S. officials were unable to get any money out of the Obama administrationbeforeitended.GiventhatTrumpiscurrentlyproposingtoslashfundingforeverythingotherthantheU.S.militaryandtheMexicoborderwall,itseemsunlikelythenewadministrationwilldodifferently.Withoutsupportfrommemberstates,U.N.officialssaytheirhandsaretied.“Thewayforward…ishugelydependentonourmembership,”saidDavidNabarro,theU.N.officialchargedwithraisingmoneyforthenewcholeraresponse,andacandidateforleadershipoftheU.N.WorldHealthOrganization.“Thatrestrictswhatwecando.Itevenrestricts,Ithink,whatopinionswecanexpress.”NotevenCongresswasable togetastraightansweronhowthe lastadministration justifiedthe lack of accountability. Senators including Patrick Leahy, the top Democrat on theAppropriations Committee, wrote Power while she was ambassador to argue for the U.N.’slegal responsibility toward Haiti. The State Department replied and simply avoided thequestion,saidTimRieser,Leahy’sforeignpolicyadviser.ThoselikeChateau,whoseetheepidemic’sdailytoll,knowthereisnotimetowaste.“Thisisaproblem caused by the international community,” she said. “They can’t get rid of choleratotally,buttheycanmakeitsoHaitiansavoidgettingcholera.Theycanhelpputsomethinginpeople’spocketssotheycansurvive.”

***Trump has never shownmuch interest in current or formerly colonized parts of the world,otherthanasplacestomakemoney.HebrieflyglommedontoHaitiattheendofthecampaign

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when he realized Haitian Americans weren’t fond of his opponent, the former secretary ofstate—particularlyinthecrucialswingstateofFlorida.Buthisonlyactiontowardthecountrysincewinninghasbeentolegitimizeitsevenmorerecently,evenmoredubiouslyelectednewright-wing president, Jovenel Moïse, with an inaugural delegation of longtime StateDepartmenthandsandTrump’sfavoriteblackrealityTVco-star,OmarosaManigault.Barring someovernight spasmof interest, Trump’sHaiti policywill probably fall backon theRepublican default. At her confirmation hearing, Haley echoed talking points from theconservative Heritage Foundation, which has used the Haiti cholera issue to call for U.N.reform,whilemakingsure tostopshortofhaving theU.S.heldaccountable inanyway.LikeHaley, its experts have also recommended passing the buck to troop-contributing countriessuchasNepal—ignoringthefactthattheU.S.calledfor,votedfor,andtooktheleadinpayingforthosepeacekeepingmissionsinthefirstplace.ThereisarealcrisisofunaccountabilityinsidetheU.N.,ofwhichthecholeracrisisisonlyoneexample. Anthony Banbury, a longtime assistant secretary general who helped overseepeacekeeping,resignedindisgustlastyear,blastingtheorganizationforallowingpeacekeeperstorapeandabusepeopletheyweresenttohelpwhileprotectingitsownbureaucracy.Despitehisreverencefortheorganization,BanburywroteinaNewYorkTimesop-ed,ithasbecome“ablackholeintowhichdisappearcountlesstaxdollarsandhumanaspirations,nevertobeseenagain.”Meanwhile,noseniorU.N.officialshavebeen firedorpunished for their roles in thecholeraepidemic or cover-up. Guatemalan diplomat Edmond Mulet, who headed MINUSTAH whencholerawasintroduced,wascontinuallypromotedevenasheopenlyliedabouttheepidemic’sorigins.HeeventuallybecameBan’schiefofstaffandsatdirectlybehindBanastheU.N.chiefrecitedhisvagueapologyinDecember.Member states ignored a letter from the new secretary-general, former Portuguese primeministerAntónioGuterres,askingthemtodeclarebyMarch6iftheyintendedtocontributetothe$400millioncholerafund.Insiderssayaproposaltoforcememberstatestocomeupwiththatamount—afractionof thebillionsspentonMINUSTAHover13years—byassessing itaspartoftheirregularU.N.dueshaslikelybeenshelvedamidresistancefromtheUnitedStates,Russia,andChina.InaMarch16lettertotheSecurityCouncil,GuterresrecommendedshuttingdownMINUSTAHbyOct.15ofthisyearbutmadenomentionofusinganypartofitscurrent$346millionannualbudgettohelppayforthedamageitcaused.Amongthereasonstoendthemission,Guterresnoted, “the outbreak of cholera in the country has impacted negatively on the country’sdevelopmentandonthepublicperceptionofMINUSTAH.”ThoseflawsgiveTrump,Haley,SecretaryofStateRexTillerson,andtheadministration’salliesplenty of cover in arguing for less American participation in an imperfect body. Trump’s

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problem is that, for 70 years, the United States has depended on a strong and accountableUnitedNationsasalinchpinofAmericanpower.FoundedbythevictorsofWorldWarII in1945topreventanotherglobalwar,theinstitutionheadquarteredon theeastsideofManhattanhasprovidedaplace forcountries tohashouttheir differences andmake alliances—and yes, “get together, talk and have a good time”—insteadofmassingtroopsonbordersandpunchinginlaunchcodes.TheUnitedStateshasusedits veto-wielding position on the Security Council to legitimize its policies and condemn itsrivals.ButasthekindofangerandmistrustoftheUnitedNationsthathasgrowninHaitiisfeltaroundtheworld,theauthorityandprotectionithasprovidedcouldcometoanend.Trumpwasborna year after theUnitedNationswas founded.Hewasn’t in chargewhen itspeacekeepersbroughtcholeratoHaiti,norwhentheU.S.governmenthelpedshielditsleadersfromaccountability.Buthe’s inherited its legacy,goodandbad.And inglobalpolitics,as thenewpresidentmaynowbediscovering, you can’t justdeclarebankruptcy togetoutof yourdebts.JonathanM.Katz is theauthorofTheBigTruckThatWentBy:HowtheWorldCametoSaveHaiti and Left Behind a Disaster. His next book, on the legacy of American empire, will bepublishedbySt.Martin’sPress.