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Here’s some more background on the decision from the Navy Times article within the Publius Forum article posted-

“Army Col. Billy Buckner, spokesman for Joint Task Force-Haiti, a group representing various Obama administration agency heads, said the decision not to fly the American flag was made out of respect as guests of the government of Haiti.

“It is no mystery that U.S. forces are on the ground, and we proudly wear an American flag on our right sleeve,” he said.

U.S. Air Force air operations specialists and FAA air-traffic controllers manage air traffic at Haiti’s main airport, where millions of dollars in aid from the United States has been arriving for weeks. More than 12,000 U.S. military personnel support relief operations.

“Our commanders are smart and intuitively understand their mission here in Haiti, and clearly the sensitivities that come with supporting the mission,” Buckner said.A U.S. flag went up at a temporary consular station set up in the first few days on the airport tarmac, according to Charles Luoma-Overstreet, a State Department spokesman in Haiti.

“Apparently, the prime minister (Jean-Max Bellerive) saw this” and thought it appeared as if the United States were taking over the airport, Luoma-Overstreet said.

He said Bellerive said something to U.S. Ambassador Kenneth Merten, who agreed that flying the flag wasn’t a good idea and told the consular officials to take it down.

The decision is not unprecedented, noted Joe Davis, spokesman for the Veterans of Foreign Wars, who says he is not bothered by the flag’s absence.

During the Gulf War in 1991, U.S. forces took control of the main airport in Kuwait and briefly flew the American flag over their installation, Davis said, but higher-ups ordered it taken down to avoid an impression that U.S. forces were conquerors.

The missing American colors at Port-au-Prince airport were no problem to Don Hollenbaugh, a former Army Delta Force operator who received the Distinguished Service Cross for actions in Fallujah, Iraq, in 2004.

“Everybody in the world knows the U.S. is there,” Hollenbaugh said. “So by not flying the flag, we’re not changing anyone’s mind about anything.”

http://www.navytimes.com/news/2010/03/ap_haiti_flag_031510/

"The decision is not unprecedented, noted Joe Davis, spokesman for the Veterans of Foreign Wars, who says he is not bothered by the flag’s absence."

Well, it bothers the hell out of me. I hope he will be equally un-bothered when I fail to renew my VFW membership this year.

It doesn't bother the Haitians that we are there to hand out free stuff, treat and evacuate people, and rebuild infrastructure, but it bothers them that our flag was flying? Pull out like a boy on prom night. Pull out now!