#3453: Aristide and violence: Knowles comments

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From: Phil Knowles <Phildk@prodigy.net>

I was there for two busy weeks in January 1995.  Bangladesh soldiers were
far more conspicuous than Americans. They were very sharp looking, by the
way, and very professional in bearing.   My group interviewed officials from
what was called OAS/UN  -  they were not Americans. Yes, it was American
inspired and led, but I resent "dress up" - that's unnecessary and less than
helpful.  In fact, about 20,000 Americans came in September; by January the
count was around 6,000.

I agree the word "invasion" is misleading, as it conjures up visions of war
in the Pacific, D-Day, etc. against a totally hostile enemy. That's why
"Intervention" feels like a more appropriate word.  But semantics is not as
important as facts.

Phil Knowles


----- Original Message -----
From: "Robert Corbett" <bcorbett@netcom.com>
To: "Haiti mailing list" <haiti@lists.webster.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, May 03, 2000 12:45 PM
Subject: #3443: Aristide and violence: Grey replies to Chamberlain


>
> From:Racine125@aol.com
>
> << It's like the US trying to dress up the 1994 invasion (which of course
had
> the
>  freely-given approval of Aristide) as an "international" force, which it
>  was in theory but not in practice.  >>
>
> The i-n-t-e-r-v-e-n-t-i-o-n by the United Nations Multi-National forces
was
> not an invasion in any sense of the word.  I have family members who
survived
> World War II in Europe, and believe me what happened in Haiti was NOTHING
> like the Nazi "blitzkreig" invasion.  The only people who saw the
> Multi-National forces intervention as an "invasion" were the people who
fell
> from power - the murderous Haitian Army, FRAPH, old-time Macoutes,
attaches,
> etc.
>
> Secondly, the Multi-National Force was precisely that - multi-national.  I
> met Togolais and Bangladeshis and Italians and Nigerians, ALL part of the
> Multi-National Forces.
>
> Peace and love,
>
> Bon Mambo Racine Sans Bout Sa Te La Daginen
>
> "Se bon ki ra",
>      Good is rare - Haitian Proverb
>
> The VODOU Page - <A
HREF="http://members.aol.com/racine125/index.html">http://
> members.aol.com/racine125/index.html</A>
>