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âNo Enthusiasmâ to Send Troops to Haiti
EFL
With officials alert for a potential refugee crisis, Secretary of State Colin Powell said Tuesday the administration had "no enthusiasm" for using U.S. forces to quell unrest in Haiti. He added that some nations may be willing to send peacekeepers once peace is restored.
Ah, Colin, youâre forgetting something.
The White House said it was up to the Haitian people to decide whether embattled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide should remain in power. But Powell dismissed suggestions from some of Aristideâs opponents that he step down. "We cannot buy into a proposition that says the elected thug president must be forced out of office by thugs and those who do not respect law and are bringing terrible violence to the Haitian people," Powell said.
| "We'd rather wait until you drag him through the streets and kill him. That way we know he won't come back." |
With Haitiâs latest crisis in its 11th day, U.S. officials said they saw no sign at this point of a repeat of the refugee crisis of the early 1990s, when the country was under military rule. Nevertheless, they said there are contingency plans at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for a Haitian exodus. They added that no refugee shelters were being constructed at the base.
"Move over, Mahmoud, you got company!"
"Hey! What's that in his hand?"
"It's a chicken!"
"And who's that guy with him?"
"Don't mind him. He's dead." |
The administration is reluctant to intervene militarily this time, partly because there is no obvious successor.
| ... and partly because we keep doing that over and over again, and the end result is always the same. |
In 1994, Aristide had a legitimate claim to take over after the junta was ousted, based on his election in 1990. Powell talked on Tuesday with French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin, who told reporters on Tuesday that France was weighing the possibility of sending peacekeepers. But, he added, it would be very difficult to do so while Haiti is in the throes of violence. France has 4,000 military personnel on the Caribbean islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe.
Iâm sure theyâd get a hot warm welcome in Haiti.
Posted by: Steve White 2004-02-18 |
