24027: Slavin: (op-ed) Protectorate may be Haiti's only alternative (MHerald 010204) (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

from: jps390@aol.com

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/10542806.htm
Posted on Sun, Jan. 02, 2005
COMMENTARYProtectorate may be Haiti's only alternative
BY GABRIEL MARCELLAmarcella@pa.net
Always a step away from crisis
Haiti is a failed state. It needs a vast amount of international support, and above all, security.
But the international community has a more fundamental decision to make. Will it continue to operate under the assumption that Haiti is a sovereign state or will it recognize that adherence to this sacred principle may be an impediment to resolving conflict and restoring the badly-depleted ecology? Haiti does not have the political and institutional capacity to utilize its sovereignty. Moreover, sovereignty as a theory of international order has little value to people attempting to survive in a hell of zero sum politics, of ever escalating violence, disease, starvation, and of socio-economic and ecological ruin beyond description.

If the international community continues to operate under the assumption that Haiti is sovereign, it will be forced to deal with a state which has historically exploited or killed other Haitians. This will inevitably mean working with some elected government, under the mistaken belief that an election is meaningful, that it constitutionally transfers power to the legitimate winner that has the interests of the people at heart. In fact, history shows that it will merely install another set of predators, who will manipulate foreign support to strengthen their political power.

The notion of a protectorate in the 21st century is unpopular, especially among Haiti's proud people. But it may be the only alternative left.
This would require a multi-year commitment by the United Nations to take over responsibility. There ought to be sufficient military force on the ground to maintain security, prevent violence, disarm the population, protect infrastructure, and to begin nurturing habits of self-reliance rather than self-destruction. Fundamental would be a massive ecologically-based strategy to plant trees, restore soil, resuscitate agricultural production, and provide incentives for people to resume a more dignified existence in the countryside. Less than 2 percent of the tree cover survives, down from 17 percent some 30 years ago. Heavy rains simply wash the topsoil into the Caribbean. By the mid 1990s an estimated 20 percent of the topsoil was depleted. Trees have to be planted and protected. In the 1980s the United States Agency for International Development helped plant millions of trees, but Haitians cut them down almost as fast in order to make firewood to cook with. Ecologically and administratively, Port-au-Prince's population is too large. With unemployment levels hovering at 80 percent, some of these people should return to the land.
Security would also provide greater incentive for foreign investment to return and create jobs. As General Thomas Hill, retired commander of the U.S. Southern Command, warns: ``Unless the Haitian people are able to lift themselves from abject misery to at least dignified poverty and develop some semblance of working institutions, Haiti's problems will continue to haunt the United States. Short of a comprehensive long-term international effort to support Haiti, we will always be just one step away from the next migration crisis or political collapse.''
In addition to much more time, the U.N. force in Haiti needs a robust mandate and more troops. The number of countries providing forces should also be expanded, with enough soldiers to allow allocation of national responsibilities according to departments.
Employing thousands of Haitians, these contingents could also perform complementary reconstruction tasks, such as security, bridge and road construction, building schools and medical facilities, water and sanitation. But the task should not be left to soldiers alone; the challenge of implementing a long-term ecologically-based strategy should be placed in the hands of a civilian administrator, endowed with enough authority and the resources to do the job.
While the reconstruction of Haiti is under way, the international community must avoid the seduction of another early exit, lest it leave Haiti to endless cycles of rapacious government of little legitimacy, followed by self-destruction, and boat people.
Gabriel Marcella teaches strategy at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pa.
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------------J.P. SlavinNew York------------