Of course Haiti is not a threat to the United States. What was imminent in Haiti was mob rule.

medmech's point, as I understood it, was that Kerry and others were being inconsistent by criticizing Bush's nation building efforts in the Middle East and then criticizing his failure to act in Haiti. My point is that those positions are not inconsistent. For one thing, I don't think that Kerry's criticism of Bush's Middle East effort focuses on the nation building aspect. His criticism is of the dishonesty and recklessness that Bush has shown in relation to Iraq.

As for whether we should have acted sooner in Haiti, it seems to me that we have a stake in the stability of democratically elected governments in neighboring countries. We also have a stake in preventing a humanitarian crisis if we can, especially when it is happening next door. It is fair to ask why Bush did not act sooner.