No American flag.
Frances tricolor, Britains Union Jack and even Croatias coat of arms flap in the breeze.
But the country whose contributions dwarf the rest of the worlds the United States has no flag at its main installation near the Port-au-Prince airport.
The lack of the Stars and Stripes does not sit well with some veterans and servicemembers who say the U.S. government should be proud to fly the flag in Haiti, given the amount of money and manpower the U.S. is donating to help the country recover from the Jan. 12 quake.
The Obama administration says flying the flag could give Haiti the wrong idea.
Good riddance. Today's weapons have made the bayonet obsolete. A soldier is more likely to impale himself than to kill an enemy soldier with a bayonet. [wonder when was the last time someone was actually killed with a bayonet?]
May 16, 2004 (from) Scotland on Sunday:
First Bayonet Charge since the Falklands War British troops in Iraq perform their first bayonet charge since the Falklands War. 35 insurgents were killed, while only 3 British troops were wounded.
SCOTTISH troops fixed bayonets and fought hand to hand with a Shiite militia in southern Iraq in one of their fiercest clashes since the war was declared more than a year ago, it was reported last night.
Soldiers from the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders mounted what were described as "classic infantry assaults" on firing and mortar positions held by more than 100 fighters loyal to the outlawed cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, according to military sources.
Nine fighters were captured and three British soldiers injured, none seriously.
The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders were drawn into the fighting when soldiers in two Land-Rovers were ambushed on Friday afternoon about 15 miles east of the city of Amara.
Reinforcements were summoned from the Princess of Waless Royal Regiment at a base nearby. "There was some pretty fierce hand-to-hand fighting with bayonets fixed," the source added. "There were some classic assaults on mortar positions held by the al-Sadr forces."
