17268: Holmstead: Re: Haitian Military Carnage (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: John Holmstead <cyberkismet@yahoo.com>

I was reading one of Pina's articles in the
Blackcommmentator and ran across this link. I didn't
know the carnage of the Haitian military till I saw
these photos. I don't get why the opposition is
calling for the return of the military. Are they
really that crazy?

The photos can be accessed through:
http://www.haitiaction.net/News/coupphotos.html


Forward by Kevin Pina - Nov 5, 2003

It has been difficult to watch reality turned on its
head in what I read about Haiti these days. It has
been painful to watch this destructive campaign by
powerful interests in Haiti and Washington as they try
to transform a beautiful movement of the poor into a
dark and ugly creature now shunned by even the
so-called progressive intellectuals. But the real
truth is that the whole story is not getting out to
the world. It is being constantly filtered through the
lenses of those who control the media and those who
have but one common purpose and theme, that the
movement of the poor in Haiti should be broken along
with their President. A president who had the audacity
to abolish his own military and include the poor as
major players in Haitian political life for the first
time in history.

The Washington-backed opposition has called for a
return of the Haitian military. As one Haitian
recently told me, "In their mad rush for power they
have become so hateful they would have the same
military that has been responsible for so much death
and suffering in Haiti, return to power as long as it
serves the purpose of destroying President
Aristide<pi>s legacy. And what of the poor who
suffered so much at the hands of the military? Can you
not understand how frightened they must be that the
same military who raped their mothers, sisters and
daughters is being asked to return to power by the
opposition in Haiti? Can we not understand how the
brutal murder of 7000 of their own people at the hands
of the same military, after the coup against Aristide
in 1991, frightens them to their core making them
increasingly angry and defiant? Is this really so
difficult to understand as events unfold in Haiti
today?"

So how do we tell the truth about what is going on in
Haiti? I would like to tell you a story. One day I was
sitting with a Haitian friend watching a soccer game
in one of the poorer neighborhoods of Port au Prince.
Since it was a game between street kids no one wore
any uniforms and I couldn<pi>t tell who was on which
team. I turned to my friend and asked him how could he
tell whom to root for since I couldn<pi>t tell one
team from another. His response has provided me with a
lesson that has served me to this day. He responded:
>=It<pi>s quite simple and not unlike Haitian politics
or world politics for that matter, the only way you
know who is on your team is by which direction they
are kicking the ball!<= I ask you, on behalf of the
poor men, women and children I know and love in Haiti,
watch which way people are kicking the ball when they
talk or write about Haiti. If they do not speak
against the return of the military, if they do not
include the voices of the poor in what they say and
write, if they do not address the legitimate hopes and
fears of the poor, the chances are they are not,
whether intentionally or unwittingly, on the same team
as the poor majority of Haitian people.

I offer these never before published photos as a
testimony to the brutality of the Haitian military. I
realize they may be disturbing but it is an undeniable
reality that must be addressed. I ask that you join me
in my prayers that these atrocities by the Haitian
military shall never be repeated again.

WARNING! These graphic photos will be disturbing to
most.


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