15072: Laleau comments on U.S. troops in Haiti

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

Date: Mon, 10 Mar 2003 04:16:47 EST
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Dear Phil,--Yes, the US troops did behave well for the most part... I was
there
before, during, and after the intervention, and before it, I was pretty
scared
of what I thought might happen... I was afraid of lots of arrogant bigoted
white troops running roughshod over poor Haitian people... turns out a lot
of
the troops were college educated, brown, and black, and even Haitian
descent,
and had immense compassion for the Haitian people... it was the troops who
forced a change in the "rules of engagement" once they personally
witnessed the
Haitian FADH assaulting civilians. Unfortunately, the outcome of the
intervention still involved the US running roughshod over poor Haitian
people,
politically and economically, although the troops were not the ones who
engineered or did the damage. --nancylaleau