18812: Esser: Leaving it to Aristide (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: D. Esser torx@joimail.com

The Baltimore Sun
http://www.baltimoresun.com/

Opinion
Leaving it to Aristide

February 19, 2004

THE UNITED STATES is leaving Haitian President Jean-Bertand Aristide
to his own devices. With Haitian police reportedly abandoning their
posts in some towns, former death squad leaders taking up arms
against the government and pro-Aristide supporters resisting, it's
doubtful that any political move by Mr. Aristide would halt the
violence or calls for his resignation.

The situation in Haiti began with peaceful protests by opposition
groups, determined to force Mr. Aristide from office. But it has
escalated to a point where Mr. Aristide can't settle this on his own
with his relatively small police force. For the Bush administration
to insist on this course of action amounts to a fundamental
misreading of the crisis or a callous indifference to it.

While we appreciate Secretary of State Colin L. Powell's candor on
the White House's lack of "enthusiasm" for sending U.S. troops to
Haiti, it doesn't absolve the administration from engaging in
rigorous diplomacy.

France and Canada have offered to send in peacekeepers once the
violence has subsided. The United States should seize on their good
will and, in conjunction with the Organization of American States and
the United Nations, propose a political compromise to break the
impasse between Mr. Aristide and opposition leaders. That might
persuade the embattled president to rein in his armed supporters who
are serving as a second line of defense against a coup d'etat. But
the volatility of the situation in Haiti and the presence of rogue
former military leaders in the fighting necessitate swift action.

Mr. Aristide, the country's first democratically-elected leader and
champion of the poor, is not blameless in this conflict. Discontent
with his presidency has grown steadily since his return to office in
1994. Haiti remains as impoverished as it was when he was forced from
office in 1991; he returned to Port-au-Prince three years later with
the help of U.S. troops. A political solution brokered by the
international community may not ensure the longevity of Mr.
Aristide's rule, but it could prevent his violent overthrow.
Opposition leaders also will have to accept compromises to keep the
conflict from devolving into civil war.

The recent return to Haiti of Louis-Jodel Chamblain, a ruthless
paramilitary leader whose group brutalized hundreds of Aristide
supporters during the 1991-94 military dictatorship, signals the
potential for a more intense, erratic phase. So far, more than 50
people have died since rebels seized the city of Gonaives, Haiti's
fourth-largest, on Feb. 5. The United States has sent a team of aid
officials to Haiti to assess the humanitarian needs, which have been
described as dire. But Washington can't restrict its efforts only to
addressing humanitarian issues. The political crisis in Haiti
requires its leadership.

Copyright © 2004, The Baltimore Sun

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