The Biden administration deployed aggressively at the United National General Assembly this past week, to make a hard sell for the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission the U.S. hopes can soon be sent to Haiti with backing from the UN Security Council. Kenya has offered to lead such a mission with 1,000 of its own police forces to help the beleaguered Haitian National Police (PNH) combat gangs, but many more countries will have to contribute police or military forces, financial aid, weapons and logistical support for such a mission to get off the ground. Acting Deputy Secretary of State Victoria “Maidan” Nuland admitted in remarks to the Miami Herald Sept. 22 that State Department officials had been working all week “building support” for the mission “even among the doubters.”
Aside from Biden’s own appeal for support during his Sept. 19 address to the UNGA, on Sept. 22 Secretary of State Tony Blinken organized a high-level security meeting with representatives of 34 permanent and non-permanent members of the UN Security Council to lobby them to back the MSS with funds, manpower, logistical support, etc. Haiti’s Prime Minister Ariel Henry and Kenya’s President William Ruto and Foreign Minister Alfred Mutua were also present along with many other high-level officials. After detailing Haiti’s horrific humanitarian disaster and how much money the U.S. has contributed to the country, Blinken predicted that an MSS mission could be in Haiti “within months” if the UNSC approves the U.S.-Ecuador resolution mandating it, which isn’t at all guaranteed.
