21437: Esser: On Powell and Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: D. Esser torx@joimail.com

Media Monitors Network
http://usa.mediamonitors.net

April 19, 2004

My Master's House...
by Sheila Samples

[Excerpt]

"I was never kinder to the old man than during the whole week before
I killed him"
- Edgar Allen Poe, The Tell-Tale Heart

[...]

But nothing reveals Powell's brutish dark side so clearly or exposes
his utter disdain for all creatures brown or black as his recent
orchestration of the coup d`etat in Haiti and the forced ouster of
its democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

Quietly, quietly, Powell stood by for three years as Haitian rebels
were trained and armed in the Dominican Republic for the overthrow of
Aristide's government. In early February, just prior to the planned
coup, Powell assured the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, "It is
the policy of the government that it is not for regime change."

Quietly, the administration cut off aid to Haiti, and Powell
administered a "hands-off" policy during the ensuing violence and
bloodshed. Rebel forces spread over the provinces, toting U.S.-made
M-16s and rocket-propelled grenade launchers. Finally, Aristide, who
refused to leave for fear that all who supported him would be killed,
pled for U.S. assistance.

The assistance Powell sent was armed Marines who forced Aristide and
his wife aboard a plane under threat of death, and whisked them out
of the country. Members of the Congressional Black Caucus
courageously attempted to penetrate the public consciousness, but to
no avail. Randall Robinson, close associate of Aristide and founder
of TransAfrica, said "Colin Powell is the most powerful and damaging
black to rise to influence in the world in my lifetime."

While America yawned, Powell quietly pulled the media curtain on the
Haiti regime change -- Cheshire-cat smile in place as Florida
television talk-show host Gerard Latortue was installed as prime
minister. The killing of all who supported Aristide began. Bodies
continue to be dumped on a Haitian hillside, where dogs and pigs
feast on them. Caribbean countries seeking a UN probe of Aristide's
ouster have been intimidated into inaction.

Roll out the banner -- Another bloody mission accomplished.

Haiti is indeed another place and another time where Powell and his
masters would rather we not go. In Haiti last week to show support
for the new U.S.-backed regime, Powell echoed his master's voice --
"I urge the proud people of Haiti to come together in peace, to seize
this new chance to put your country firmly on the path to democracy."

Sound familiar? Before you get too comfortable, remember that the
blood of the innocent -- from Vietnam to Haiti -- not only stains
every warmonger in this administration, but cries out for justice.
Lest you are moonstruck by the gentle warrior beckoning to you from
the shadows of his master's house, remember that few things are more
frightening than fascism in disarray when time is running out.

And -- Don't Go There!

by courtesy & © 2004 Sheila Samples
.