13617: Lafleur: Haiti - rethinking policy (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Lourdes Lafleur <lourdeslafleur@videotron.ca>

Saturday, November 9, 2002

Last modified at 7:36 p.m. on Friday, November 8, 2002

HAITI: Rethinking policy
Florida Times Union in Jacksonville, Fla.

Now that the Bush adminis- tration has acknowledged the obvious -- that the
1994 invasion of Haiti accomplished nothing -- it's time to reconsider some
of the basic premises underlying U.S. foreign policy.
Jean-Bertrand Aristide had been president of Haiti, historically a land of
brutal dictators and wretched poverty, only about a year before he was
overthrown in 1991. That upset the previous adminis- tration, which
militarily restored him to power three years later.
The purpose of the invasion -- in addition to perhaps giving the president's
party a boost on the eve of a congressional election -- was to restore
democracy, improve human rights and stem the flow of Haitian rafters by
working carefully with Aristide to rejuvenate the economy.
Nothing of the sort happened. Aristide, who had ruled as a virtual dictator
before, didn't change.
Mobs assaulted his critics with renewed vigor. Political opponents of
Aristide and figurehead tem- porary replacement Rene Preval were ignored or
repressed.
Elections, when they actually took place, were replete with irregularities.
The economy worsened. With most Haitians unemployed and 80 percent of the
water contaminated, the rafters began returning.
The reaction was to cut off aid until democracy was restored, but that
backfired. Aristide continued as before, and his people's suffering
increased.
Just last week, television news was showing Haitians landing on Miami Beach
and running through the streets seeking freedom.
It's no wonder a diplomat recently complained that the United States had
spent $3 billion rebuilding Haiti, to no avail.
This nation simply cannot end tyranny by overthrowing one tyrant and
replacing him with another one. Nor can it force new policies from an
oppressive ruler by threatening to make life harder for his people. It's
better to do nothing than to make the problems worse.
Foreign policy should be guided by the thinking head, not the bleeding
heart.