Hearing more and more people from the tea party crowd and right argue that we shouldn’t help out Haiti is truly appalling. We aren’t talking about some unknown nation on the other side of the globe. We are talking about our neighbors, separated by only 300 miles of ocean. For me I think of it as the distance from Cincinnati to Chicago.

So what would happen if the United States decided to ignore the disaster? First we would be looking at widespread disease. Getting trapped people out of the rubble is imperative to prevent the spread of disease. If we don’t prevent that now, then we will see this disease start spreading throughout the Caribbean, and then it will only be a matter of time before it hits our shores.

Of course problems such as widespread disease customarily leads to a refugee problem. When it comes to life and death, that 300 miles isn’t far at all. So this would also open up a new immigration problem. The same people arguing to not help Haiti are the same people who cringe at immigration. Think of the costs associated with opening up a larger front on the immigration battle.

Even more troubling would be something I like to call the Hezbollah model. Basically this would entail some terrorist organization going in to help the Haitians. Now you might think this is something confined to the Middle East, but there are terrorist organizations operating in South America, and they love looking for ways to get new followers.

So these terrorist organizations go in and help out the Haitians. The people are indebted to them for their “kindness”. The terrorists now have new friends, but worse yet, they have friends with relatives in the United States. Welcome to the new al Qaeda like terrorist group – one a states distance from our shores.

We are lucky to live in such a prosperous nation, but with that prosperity comes responsibility. This is a responsibility to our fellow man, and that responsibility is never felt as much as at a time of catastrophe like now. Providing humanitarian aid to Haiti also helps insure our national security. People arguing against this help are wanting to weaken America as a nation, both morally and from a security stand point.

And please, if you can spare any money at all then please give to MercyCorps to help the people of Haiti. This isn’t just about saving lives, it’s also about our national security and responsibility.