18970: radtimes: The Traps of Intervention (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: radtimes <resist@best.com>

The Traps of Intervention

http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/022004H.shtml

     By Renaud Girard
     Le Figaro FR
     Wednesday 18 February 2004

      What can be done for Haiti, the recurrent drama of the third world?
Dominique de Villepin advocated French aid yesterday, on the grounds of our
country?s humanitarian aid experience and the "platform" our foreign
departments (t.n.: French regional governmental units) in the Caribbean
constitute. The Foreign Affairs Minister cautiously only mentioned the
possibility of deploying an "international peace force". This caution is
understandable. The history of the last six years has taught us that
sending a Western expeditionary force to a troubled foreign country does
not automatically transform it into a haven of peace and democracy.

      Autumn 1994, American forces had landed in Haiti to get rid of the
little republic?s military government and to return President Aristide to
power. Ten years later, the situation of what was once the "pearl of the
Caribbean" has only deteriorated.

      The right to intervene in the affairs of little countries that are
victims of dictatorship or civil war that the big democratic countries
arrogate to themselves is a weapon that demands the utmost circumspection.
Military intervention to arrest an intolerable situation is not so
difficult, given the technological superiority of Western armed forces. The
delicate phase is always the post-war period.

      Nothing is easier than to provoke a dilapidated army?s rout on
foreign soil or than to bring a handful of predatory militias to heel. But
nothing is more complicated than to succeed afterwards, in the midst of a
foreign culture, at what the Americans call "nation building", that is, the
establishment of a state of laws. Good intentions will never guarantee the
success of a Western military-humanitarian expedition, whether it takes
place in Somalia, Kosovo, Iraq, or Haiti.

      Before invading a country, it is appropriate to answer several
questions. What type of social and political organization is to be
established? Will the means (intellectual, financial, military,
administrative) for this policy be sufficient? How long will it be
necessary to remain in the country? How many soldiers are to be sacrificed?
What will be the criteria of success? What level of success must be
achieved for retreat to appear morally justified? George W. Bush finds
himself in big trouble with the American electorate today for having failed
to ask these questions about Iraq a year ago (and for having invoked the
false pretext of weapons of mass destruction).

      In the proposals he put forward for UN reform last October, Kofi
Annan had suggested bringing the old regime of "trusteeship" back into
effect. This is an idea around which Franco-American dialogue could be
reconstructed.

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     Translation: Truthout French language correspondent Leslie Thatcher.

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