20974: Esser: Back on the Back Burner (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: D. Esser torx@joimail.com

The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com

Back on the Back Burner

Wednesday, March 31, 2004; Page A24

REMEMBER HAITI? One month ago, shortly after President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide was flown out of the country on a U.S. military aircraft,
U.S. Marines began landing in the capital of Port-au-Prince as part
of a multinational intervention to stop the spread of anarchy. It was
a mission the Bush administration did its best to avoid, following
years of neglecting Haiti and months of trying to hand off management
of its mounting crisis to others. Thirty days later, the Marines are
still there -- 1,900 of them -- but the country and its dire problems
have once again vanished from the agendas of administration
policymakers. And once again, the Haitian situation is starting to
deteriorate.

While Washington's back has been turned, Mr. Aristide has returned
from Central Africa to nearby Jamaica, while loudly telling the world
that his departure was not voluntary but the result of U.S. trickery
and force -- an allegation the White House has made no concerted
effort to counter. The 15-nation Caribbean Community, whose
collaboration is vital to Haiti's stabilization, has responded by
calling for an international investigation and postponing recognition
of the interim government -- a decision made at a meeting that no
U.S. diplomat attended. The interim stabilization force, which was
supposed to consist of 5,000 troops, has leveled off at 3,500 and has
been unable to establish itself beyond the country's three largest
cities. Consequently, much of the rest of the countryside remains in
the hands of armed gangs.

The new government was supposed to be one of national reconciliation.
But the interim prime minister flown in from exile in Florida, Gerard
Latortue, swiftly aligned himself with the opposition to Mr.
Aristide. Mr. Latortue's cabinet excluded members of Mr. Aristide's
party; last week he flew to the city of Gonaives to celebrate with
several of the local gangsters, including a convicted murderer, whom
he called "freedom fighters." His government has proclaimed its
intention to prosecute Mr. Aristide and some of his key followers,
but offered no hint of a plan to prepare the country for democratic
elections.

U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan has appealed for a major new effort
to rebuild Haiti's government, police and political institutions.
Without a nation-building program of at least a decade's duration, he
warned, the country will experience continued or worsening chaos.
"Our globalized world cannot afford such a political vacuum, whether
in the mountains of Afghanistan or on the very doorstep of the sole
remaining superpower," Mr. Annan wrote in an article published by the
Wall Street Journal.

So far, the Bush administration's response to this forthright
challenge looks a lot like another dodge. Today the most senior U.S.
official to visit Haiti since before Mr. Aristide's departure is to
arrive in Port-au-Prince -- a deputy assistant secretary of state.
His boss, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, recently told a
congressional committee that the administration will not ask for any
supplemental appropriations for Haiti this year. The current budget
is $44 million -- about 2 percent of what the United States is
spending on reconstruction in Afghanistan.

Some midlevel American officials agree that U.S. engagement with
Haiti is essential; they are studying how the United States might
participate in such areas as training police and building up
democratic institutions, provided funds could be diverted from other
programs. But they are mired in debate with administration
policymakers who oppose further aid. It's true, as the opponents say,
that the Clinton administration spent billions trying to save Haiti,
and failed. But this is about the poorest nation in the Western
Hemisphere, a haven for drug traffickers and a perpetual source of
refugees 600 miles from Florida. It's time for the Bush
administration to develop a better policy than ignoring the country.

© 2004 The Washington Post Company
.