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Congressional Black Caucus: Bush helped rebels oust Aristide
Members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) yesterday accused the Bush administration of deliberately exacerbating the violence in Haiti to hasten the ouster of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. They charged that the White House misled lawmakers about its intentions as it undermined Aristide â who was restored to power in 1994 by the Clinton administration following a coup â and forced him to flee to the Central African Republic. Black lawmakers said the White House must prove that Aristide was not kidnapped. Rep. Donald Payne (D-N.J.): âIt seems like the administration just wanted Aristide out.â
| Bright guy! Got there all by himself. |
They demanded conclusive evidence that the Haitian leader â whose 2000 election victory was internationally condemned as fraudulent â was not forced out at gunpoint.
| We could have left him there; he would have faced a gunpoint for sure. |
âWhat makes this not a coup?â Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) asked at the United Nations after meetings with Secretary General Kofi Annan and U.S. Ambassador John D. Negroponte. Rep. Major Owens (D-N.Y.) added: âWe are very troubled that this [Aristideâs ouster] was a terrorist takeover.â
| Gangs of thugs on one side, gangs of thugs on the other side, a duly-elected President-for-Life⢠deposed... I don't think I'd call it a terrorist takeover, just a continuation of quaint Haitian native traditions. No skin off our collective fore either way, but maybe a little better for the Haitians if they try a fresh batch of thugs for awhile â there's always a chance, y'know. |
CBC criticism of the exiled leader was muted, despite long-standing international concern about his regimeâs engaging in fraud, thug rule and the repression of opponents.
| Since he's anti-Bush, it's okay to be engaged in fraud, thug rule and repression. |
Rep. Donald Payne (D-N.J.), a leading voice on international affairs in the CBC, told The Hill, âAristide made mistakes, but President Bush made mistakes, President Clinton made mistakes, but we donât run them out of office.â
| You might want to listen to your own party. |
White House spokesman Scott McClellan called any suggesting that Aristide was kidnapped âcomplete nonsense,â adding: âConspiracy theories do nothing to help the Haitian people move forward to a better, more free and more prosperous future.â Democratic lawmakers say the Bush administrationâs policy on Haiti reflects a failure to respect democratic virtues there as much as elsewhere around the globe.
| Which democratic virtues did Jean-Berty's bully boyz represent? |
Reacting to the decision to send U.S. and French peacekeepers, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said, âHad peacekeepers been sent earlier, a political settlement that better respected the results of the last democratic election with less bloodshed and chaos could have been achieved.â
| Since the last election wasn't so democratic, what was there to respect? |
Just last Wednesday, Bush and 18 members of the CBC appeared to have found common ground on the need for U.S. intervention. After meeting with President Bush, Secretary of State Colin Powell and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, black lawmakers said they felt that the White House understood the urgency of the situation. Bush admitted fault for not acting sooner to stem the crisis on the impoverished Caribbean island. âThe president told us that he âdid not speak out loudly enough and soon enoughâ on the humanitarian tragedy and political crisis in Haiti,â CBC chairman Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) told The Hill last week. âThat acknowledgment helped us move forward,â said Cummings, in what he described as an emotional meeting as lawmakers tearfully described the human suffering.
Wednesdayâs accord evaporated over the weekend. CBC members said Bush and his team intentionally allowed the situation to deteriorate to put Aristide and his family in physical danger. âWe could have nipped this in the bud, but it seems like the administration just wanted Aristide out,â said Payne. âIt was a self-fulfilling prophecy.â
| "Big Boy! Should he stay or go?" Looks like the pee-pul have spoken. We'll be back again in ten years or so to throw this new batch of bad boyz out, and the CBC will be hooting and hollering about that one, too... |
Payne argued that Aristideâs widely criticized tenure as Haitiâs first democratically elected president did not justify what he regarded as the Bush administrationâs anti-democratic actions and quasi-support for the opposition. âThe opposition is a bunch of thugs and drug runners,â said Payne.
| And notice we aren't supporting them. |
Rep. Kendrick Meek (D-Fla.), said, âWe were misled about their plan to force out Aristide. I donât think any member of Congress can trust what this administration now tells us.â Meek has the highest concentration of Haitians of any congressional district. He said they are deeply divided about Aristide, but noted that Aristide loyalists protested in the streets yesterday, demanding assurances that he is safe. âEveryone has said that they donât agree with what President Aristide did in terms of treating the opposition, but the way [he was removed] is severely troubling.â
| The fact that he wasn't going to leave any other way was severely troubling, too. And this very predictable fault-finding by the CBC, regardless of what Bush did â you know they'd be flinging much the same charges if the Marines had gone in and tromped the rebels to prop up Jean-Berty â is also severely troubling. |
Posted by: Steve White 2004-03-03 |
