Saturday, February 28, 2004

Haiti

I haven't posted anything about Haiti because, well, what the hell do I know about Haiti. But, whatever the faults of Aristide, I do find this rather troubling:

WASHINGTON ? The Bush administration, concerned that armed groups in Haiti may seize power, says it thinks the best hope for democracy is for President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to surrender power to his constitutional successor, a senior official said Friday.

So, when armed terrorists try and bring down a government the best thing to do is give in to their demands. I'm all for a practical solutions, and perhaps if I believed peace could be restored if Aristide stepped down I'd be supportive. But, when we take a look at the thugs involved:

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Feb. 28 ? The armed men trying to seize power in Haiti are led by death-squad veterans and convicted murderers, according to American officials and human-rights groups.

They are "the new Haitian army," said one of their commanders, Remissainthe Ravix. They are also "thugs," said Secretary of State Colin L. Powell.

They are men like Louis-Jodel Chamblain and Jean-Pierre Baptiste ? two leaders of Fraph, the Haitian Front for Advancement and Progress. Fraph was an instrument of terror wielded by the military junta that overthrew Haiti's embattled president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, in 1991. It killed thousands over the next three years.

Mr. Chamblain, a former Haitian Army officer, was sentenced in absentia to life in prison for the 1993 murder of Antoine Izm?ry, an important Aristide supporter. Before the trial, he fled to the neighboring Dominican Republic, returning to Haiti in recent months to seek power.


It's hard to see how they'll be satisfied simply by the removal of Aristide.

And, yes, no matter how intemperate Corrine Brown's comments were, she was 100% correct that our policy towards Haitian refugees is absolutely racist, and that is the true outrage.