23582: Holmstead: The NJ Star-Ledger (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

FROM: john holmstead    <cyberkismet5@yahoo.com>


The NJ Star-Ledger

Fuel on the fire in Haiti
Saturday, October 23, 2004

Imagine a small Caribbean nation with a propped-up
government living on handouts and answerable to no
one, where poverty is rampant and there's fighting in
the streets every day.

What would such a country need from the world's one
remaining superpower? Few would guess the answer is
guns. Yet the Bush administration this week lifted a
13-year-old arms embargo on Haiti, even as growing
violence threatens to plunge the Western Hemisphere's
poorest nation back into chaos.

Haiti doesn't needs guns as much as it needs strong
leadership from the United States.

Since the end of September, more than 55 people have
been killed in political violence as supporters of
ousted president Jean- Bertrand Aristide have taken to
the streets to demand his return.

Aristide, Haiti's democratically elected president,
was whisked away by U.S. forces in February amid a
rising rebellion, allegedly for his own protection.
Neighboring Caribbean nations, however, were not so
sure. Condoleezza Rice, President Bush's national
security adviser, inflamed that perception when she
told a television interviewer, "We believe that
President Aristide, in a sense, forfeited his ability
to lead his people because he did not govern
democratically." Aristide was replaced by Gerard
Latortue, with American and French blessings.

The United States is Haiti's largest financial
supporter, but money isn't the only thing Haiti needs.
The United States must insist that political
suppression and violence will not be tolerated and
that democracy will be restored.

Haiti's interim government continues in place in
violation of the country's constitution. Latortue has
spent the interim months rounding up Aristide
supporters, while understaffed United Nations security
forces struggle to maintain control. Now the Bush
administration is willing to sell weapons to the
government to help curb violence. It is a poor
decision.

Under Haiti's constitution, an interim government has
90 days in which to hold elections. That time frame
expired in June, and no date has been set for
elections. Insisting that a democratic government be
installed would go a lot further than guns toward
helping Haitians determine their own future.


Copyright 2004 NJ.com. All Rights Reserved.




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