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#1815# 1781: U.S. plot theory : Bell replies to Lyall, Gill, et al (fwd)
From: madison bell <mbell@goucher.edu>
Plot's the wrong word, "inimical policy" would be more accurate at the worst.
The point everyone seems to miss in this discussion is that US policy
toward Haiti is not monolithic, but as deeply divided as our politics at
home. The intervention to restore Haiti's democratically elected
president was well-intentioned and so successful in the beginning that the
present disappointment is an almost inevitable consequence. But it was not
easy to launch (and was certainly not launched very quickly even under the
Clinton administration) -- in part because factions in the U.S. government
opposed Aristide's return. It is very well established that FRAPH was
supported by the CIA to the extent of its leader being on the CIA payroll
(yes, I know it wasn't much money but it's the principle that counts in
this case, I believe). The right and left in US politics are divided on
the question of all foreign policy and policy toward Haiti whips in the
wind between the two extremes-- it whipped very rapidly during the
intervention itself, as Bob Shacochis' recent book describes. Neither the
beneficent nor the malignant actions and intentions of the U.S. toward
Haiti can be discounted. One side doesn't eliminate the other. It's true
as Gill maintains that Haiti needs to clean its own house, but by the way,
do we need to clean ours?
msb