13570: Senou-- Haiti and the United States: 225 years of Friendship (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Senou <senou@yahoo.com>

Now, let examine the security of this country. All
these searches at the airport prove fruitless if a
boat loaded with immigrants can beach at Key Biscayne
without being detected by the navy or the Coast Guard.
Question: How many hours has this boat been in the
U.S. water? The coast guard needs to answer this
question. And what makes this matter even more
pressing is that this country is currently waging a
war against terrorism. A few years ago, a Cuban pilot
landed in Florida with an MIG 21 flying at sea level
without being detected by the air force; at that time,
that Cuban pilot was seen as a hero, but it was indeed
a security flow. What happened if that Cuban officer
came under the order of the Cuban president, the
archenemy of any U.S. government?
I commend the government for creating the Homeland
Security Department and for putting air marshals into
most planes and a vigorous search at the airport.
Most law-abiding citizen have no problem with it; the
only thing these folks need to do is speed up the
process.
It is impossible for the government alone to guarantee
the security of this vast country; the citizens and
anyone living in this country must play an important
role to keep the country safe. Those who are
naturalized must pay your fair share It is either you
are in or not, once you took the oath, you are
obligated to follow the law of this country and one
must be committed 100% to the security of this
God-given country. Make no mistakes; the United States
is indeed the land of opportunity.
Last Tuesday, the picture of Haitian kids jumping off
the boat was disturbing but no one was killed while
the camera was rolling. The refugees were lucky. We
have the tendency to react emotionally, which is
understood, or we are just acting; thousands of
Haitian nationals have died in high sea and more will
if we do not find a way to resolve our internal
conflict.
Whatever you see happening happens for a reason. The
relationship between Haiti and the United States
started September 24, 1779 in the Jungle of Savannah:
The coalition Franco-American was forced to retreat
after losing a considerable number men close to 1133
(312 U.S. soldiers and 821 French). At that time,
Colonel Maitland had decided to pursue the coalition
force in order to exterminate them. The Haitians
fighters intervened and forced the British soldiers to
return to their original position
Haitians and Americans died side by side for the
freedom of this country. Haitians have played a major
role in every facet of American life. In 1779 a
Haitian immigrant, Jean-Baptiste Point du Sable,
founded the city of Chicago. In the area of sports,
The 1950's started off with a bang as the US National
team returned to the Wo0rld Cup and stunned the world
by defeating England 1-0. The sole goal was scored by
a Haitian immigrant by the name of Joe Gaetjens. When
Haiti was in Turmoil a Haitian citizen by the name of
Marjorie Vincent was crown Miss America in 1991.
	Haiti and the United States will remain friends
forever. Leaders come and go; it is unfortunate that
the current Haitian leader and his U.S. counterpart
cannot stand each other but a few folks cannot destroy
a relationship that has survived for more than 225
years. The real American people, black and white, are
good friends of Haiti. Many white and Black Americans
organize various stuffs to assist the Haitian
nationals in the U.S. and Haiti. The Call of Frederick
Douglas to discover the beauty of Haiti to Jesse
Jackson who had advocated the Haitian cause and who
can forget a famous black Activist by the name of
Randall Robinson who had staged a long hunger strike
to keep the Haitian cause in the spotlight
	Republicans, Democrats and independents, you are
committed to defend the integrity and the territory of
this great country. Haitian nationals living in the
U.S. are the most peaceful and most loyal citizens in
this country. Their grandparents fought for the
freedom of this country. Today, I ask each of you to
have some type of compassion for my brothers and
sisters who are fleeing misery and starvation. After
World War II, the United States, with the Marshal Plan
rebuilt Europe and Japan. Haiti is located in your
backyard and Haitian nationals died for you. Whatever
indifference might exist between France and the United
States, true French citizens won’t ever forget that
thousand of U.S. and allied soldiers gave their life
in Normandy.
	Today, this country is the sole super power in the
world; whatever you say can be done. You have a moral
responsibility to assist Haiti. In order to prevent
starving Haitians from risking their life, we have to
solve the problem from the source, and Haiti cannot do
it alone. Over 450,000 Haitian nationals are living in
the United States and the majority of them would like
to hear the U.S. policy over Haiti.
It is truth, in this war against terrorism an unstable
Haiti can have grave consequences to this country, to
the Dominican Republic, and the whole Caribbean
region. It would be in the U.S. best interest to
prevent Haiti from becoming a second Lebanon.
A few weeks ago the Bush administration had made it
clear that the United States would like to see a
regime change in Iraq that dream may never be
materialized but the whole country is prepared for
that. Today, what is the policy of the United States
toward Haiti? For the past two years, there are tons
of fruitless OAS resolutions on Haiti. The latest one,
Resolution 822, was accepted by the current Haitian
government that set November 4 deadline to create the
CEP and to arrest those who had taken part in
destroying the headquarter of the opposition. This
deadline is two days away and expected to pass without
a CEP.  Now what should be done? Unless both sectors
know the consequences for not respecting their words
and commitment, this crisis will not be resolved.
Surely there would be another OAS Resolution; will the
United States advocate the use of military force to
enforce it? If so, will the United States and friends
of Haiti as well as Haitian national prepare to
salvage Haiti with a Marshal Plan?
The United States shall change its policy toward Haiti
and helps eradicate this problem once for all.
	The time for talk is over. Now it is time to take
decisive action to resolve this eternal crisis. OAS
must add a military component that should be led by
the United States to remedy the current intolerable
situation. Therefore a deadline must be imposed.
	I ask the United States of America, on behalf of many
Haitian-Americans who are naturalized in this
beautiful country to accept the latest group of
Haitian refugees as a goodwill gesture and to give
work permits to all Haitians currently living in the
U.S.  promise to help resolve the latest Haitian
crisis in a limited time frame by using diplomacy and
military.


Joseph Alfred, Educator  Saturday, November 02, 2002
P.O. BOX 334             Ph 770-438-0190
Smyrna, GA 30081         Email: joe_alfred@yahoo.com


__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
HotJobs - Search new jobs daily now
http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/