27410: Eaton (reply) Lyall on Sprague on Me (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Frank Eaton <frankeaton@mac.com>

     I'm an attentive Corbett list reader, so when Jeb Sprague contacted me to discuss my December kidnapping, I was already familiar with his writing as well as the controversy surrounding his work.

     Jeb is a young guy, like me; a student of cultures, fascinated by odd, unfortunate Haiti in particular.  Although I don't share his world view or agree with his politics, I was curious to talk to this guy who I recognized as something of a fellow traveler.  Perhaps I was even more interested to talk to him because I had in mind a slavering, anarchic zealot and I was curious as to how far off base I was in my assumption.

     In addition, Jeb was offering me something no other journalist was: an opportunity to speak at length.  Now, I'm a decent filmmaker and a passable writer, but I'm absolutely incomprehensible in conversation.  Knowing this about myself, and familiar with Jeb's social slant, I went into our phone interview fairly mortified that he would make short work of turning me into an outright communist in full view of my Haitian friends, clients, and the all seeing Corbetteers.

     I had, in essence, only three points to make:  1) that the residents of Cite Soleil were the victims of combatants on BOTH sides; that I felt that "gangsterism" could not be condoned as a political tool because it drew fire to the neighborhood and resulted in MINUSTAH operations that led to civilian casualties.   2) That if the channels existed to negotiate the release of 162 hostages in December, could these same channels not be used to facilitate a solution that would avoid a BLOODY occupation of the slum and 3) that as a clueless foreign interloper and a devotee of impartial reportage, I was unwilling to comment on anything I didn't have direct physical knowledge of.

    Predictably, my side of our conversation was a shambles; sadly, the disaster remains mostly intact in the final transcript portion of Jeb's article.  My garbled reasoning and breathtaking leaps between subject matter are, for the most part, not a result of his editing.  There's a miserable disconnect between my brain and my mouth; regardless, I'm usually wildly willing to run it.

     Jeb and I emailed drafts and suggestions back and forth for several days following the interview.  I found him to be remarkably sensitive to my concerns and he has indeed allowed me to represent myself with little editorial comment (unless you count the screed at the top of the article, but hey, I knew who I was talking to, and expected as much).   In short, yes, Jeb Sprague is an anarchic zealot (but not a slavering one) and I like him a lot.

     But we tend to TALK TOO MUCH when we've got a point to make.  And the more we talk, especially amongst socialists and filthy American opportunists like myself-- even in highly educated forums like Narco News and the Corbett list-- we can usually EDIT our sentiments down to a simple, elegantly turned phrase that we can all agree on.  I quote myself from the last paragraph of Jeb's article:

	"When you go in to try to move money and human beings in Cité Soleil it?s easy to find someone to talk to. But there is not a lot of communication going on. Every night they are fighting. On both sides are these young guys, 18 to 35 years old, looking to kill each 	other. Both are armed to the teeth. Innocent people are being killed. Kids are being killed. Children, women. Innocent people are put 	into this situation. It?s just such an insane situation. I don?t know if I had any business being in Haiti in the first place."

Frank Eaton

PS: I'm safe at home now but I'll be back in PAP shortly.   I'd supply more information and set up dinner dates and the such, but one never knows who's reading these things...

To Lyall:  We DID NOT pass a UN checkpoint on our way down Rue 1 Nationale into Belecourt, Cite Soleil.  The night was dark and the road was completely deserted.