18822: Loveayiti: Herald Condemns Aristide..Calls for Action (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: love haiti <loveayiti@hotmail.com>


Posted on Thu, Feb. 19, 2004
 Miami Herald

Set the right priorities in Haiti

Now that Haiti is in flames again, an epidemic of hand-wringing is spreading
from Washington to the United Nations to the Elysée Palace in Paris.

Where was everybody when the first puffs of smoke appeared years ago? When
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide started relying on thugs to maintain order?
When brave journalists were murdered for writing and broadcasting the truth?
When peaceful protests were repressed by violent means? Today, in the belated
haste to do something -- anything -- there is a danger of failing to adopt the
right set of priorities.

Prevent a disaster

The first goal should be to prevent a full-scale humanitarian crisis, and it is
already late in the day. It shouldn't take an armed invasion of Haiti to put an
end to the hooliganism that has made food, gasoline and medicine scarce. But if
strong diplomatic pressure on all sides can't do the job, a small military
force may have to be deployed before conditions worsen.

Restoring civil order on the streets is the next priority. Here the challenge
is both military and, ultimately, political. Before any outside attempt to
launch a police action is made, the nonviolent opposition should be given a
chance to show that it is capable of doing something besides voicing demands
that Mr. Aristide must go. An effort by Mr. Aristide's critics to curtail the
growing insurrection would demonstrate that the opposition is a legitimate
political force with clout. The opposition should be mature enough to try to
reach at least a temporary accommodation with Mr. Aristide that could lay the
groundwork for a political settlement.

Although the president has failed to live up to previous promises to govern in
a more democratic manner, the crisis demands a suspension of political demands
from his opponents because violence threatens the survival of all political
factions in the country.

Mr. Aristide carries the main burden of political responsibility. A band of
thugs must not be allowed to depose an elected president, but Mr. Aristide has
to do more than simply insist on remaining in power. Reaching out to the
opposition to form a bulwark against the forces of violence is the best way to
show that he has Haiti's best interests at heart.

Democracy takes time

The fundamental problem is that Haiti is a failed state, and will remain one
until democracy takes root -- the ultimate goal. CARICOM and the OAS can help
Haiti get there, but only the United States has the authority, or the muscle,
to lead this effort. It is time for the Bush administration to take a more
active role in stabilizing the situation. As Sen. Bob Graham has pointed out,
if we can send a military force to Liberia to protect our interests, we can do
the same in Haiti, the sooner the better.




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