They pick up trash, patrol streets and search for weapons — all the time counting the days before their tour ends. Six weeks into a mission to stabilize Haiti for a second time in a decade, U.S. troops are hampered by a 90-day mandate that leaves little time to accomplish any meaningful change, and by hostility that is a far cry from the joyous welcome the Americans got in 1994. "I don't think three months is going to change much," said U.S. Marine Staff Sgt. John Schultz, 34, of Hammond, Ind.
| 200 years hasn't changed much. What's three months gonna do? |
Still, he finds Haiti a respite from Iraq: "I've been there twice, and each time I hope will be the last." Haiti's crisis comes at a bad time for the Bush administration, which is trying to fill a power vacuum left by ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide while coping with mounting casualties in Iraq. Secretary of State Colin Powell visited last week and pledged U.S. support, but said the administration will not spend more than the $55 million earmarked for Haiti — about $20 million less than last year and a fraction of the $235 million that flowed months after the 1994 intervention.
| That's because it's like tossing it down the toilet. $55 million is a lot of cases of beer, even if you buy the good stuff. |
Less money means less chance of getting guns off the street, though everyone agrees that is the only way to secure the Caribbean country. Since the first U.S. Marines arrived Feb. 29, fewer than 150 weapons have been collected and rival street gangs and rebel groups remain armed. There's no buyback program to entice citizens into turning in their guns. The streets are patrolled by 3,600 soldiers and marines — more than half of them Americans, the rest Chileans, Canadians and French. The primary goal is to bring order before a U.N. force takes over in June. At least 300 people were killed in the rebellion that erupted Feb. 5 and ended with the Feb. 29 overthrow of Aristide, who is now in neighboring Jamaica. The Americans arrived as Aristide supporters bewildered by his departure set up flaming roadblocks, robbed, killed and looted.
| That's usually what I do when confronted with a flaming roadblock, too... |
While a semblance of order has returned to the cities, many provincial towns controlled by rival gangs or rebels sporadically erupt. Early on, U.S. troops shot and killed six Haitians they said either fired on them or tried to run roadblocks. Haitians accuse the Americans of being trigger-happy and note French troops have not once fired or been fired at.
| Ummm... Cause? Effect? If they'd shot at the Frenchies, do they think they might have possibly fired back? |
Also, Haiti is a former French colony and its Creole language is close to French.
| Perhaps it should go back to being a French colony, and then we wouldn't have to do this every ten or fifteen years? |
|