23079: Justin: Re: 23078: Allouard: Re:23072: Felux: Haiti: The Attica of the Americas (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Justin <justins@alacrityisp.net>

> From: allouard@libertysurf.fr
>
> This is perfectly Manichean, simplistic, with no ground experience and
dishonest a view. "We had order and light and it is now chaos and
darkness"... Come on!!! Mr. Felux should leave this kind of rhetoric to
certain president waving war in Iraq!
>

I'm sorry you found my piece so offensive.  I don't understand what you are
objecting to.  Nowhere did I make some naive caricature of Haiti before
February 29th like you describe.  On the contrary, I said that the events of
the past few months are not all that different from what has been going on
the past 200 years.

> Should Mr. Felux be honest and interested to know Haitian situation, he
would have NO DIFFICULTY at all to meet journalists, activists and teachers
(as well as many jobless and 'politicalviewless' ordinary Haitian citizens)
who were held in jail with no valid reason before February the 29th... He
would also be able to meet thieves, murderers, and rapists actually in jail
(the later category being seldom jailed no matter under which government,
cf. previous Corbett exchanges on the topic)...

I really don't see what your point is here.  You say I misrepresent the
Haitian reality, then you start talking about the past.  I'm talking about
what is going on NOW.  Do you dispute that things are worse now than they
were the past several years?

You said I should use this kind of rhetoric against Bush, then you make a
series of objections that could just as easily be applied if I HAD directed
my comments at Bush.  He isn't the first U.S. president to wage a war.  He
isn't even the first one to wage a war against Iraq.

It was obviously not my intention to write a balanced history of the last
few decades of Haiti's history.  I am talking about what is going on right
now, and I don't think anyone can dispute that things are far worse now than
they were the last several years.

> PS: I am surprised not to have read in this Znet paper that end of May
rains and dead originated in President Aristide's departure... or equally
the incredibly dry rainy season Port-au-Prince is facing this year. But
perhaps should we explore the idea...

I made a conscious effort not to talk about President Aristide, cause I am
pretty tired of talking about him at this point.  Aristide is not the issue.
I'm tired of every conversation about Haiti degenerating into a pointless
argument about how good or bad President Aristide was.