Haiti Erupts

Do they have oil?

This is so sad for the people of Haiti.

You guys did last time, no?

Fbaezer has a thread on this, where he was saying that the US was hinting at supporting the counter forces to the elected government...

Sounds like a job for the UN.

A job for the UN. Hmm. Yes, maybe they can pass a few resolutions and make it all disappear.

Well, it worked in East Timor - mind you, being in our region and all, Oz was the one actually expected to DO it. Late...way late....handed over to a UN force now - but still mainly us.

Mind you, Haiti sounds worse..

dlowan
What worked in East Timor? UN resolutions or Oz's intervention? The UN only moves in after someone else has done the fighting and bleeding. As for Haiti IMO nothing short of armed intervention will put an end to the bloodshed.

Nah - UN sponsored intervention - staffed by us. Soldiers from all over the UN there now - but hey, it is our region.

Far from Oz falling over itself to get in there, our governments have been appeasers re Indonesia, until the referendum shamed us into action.

The populace almost drove our government in there...

What are the options? The USA? For the image of the US I think it's better to stay where they are. It's not a case of "it's not necessary to intervene" but immediately the world will say "the US is occupying Haiti" (although that is not the case) ...I do think that the UN can play a role in this - they have a more neutral image. I do not say that it is a good solution, but it is probably the best we got. Third option: recruit neighboring countries as peacekeepers, maybe that will help. It did help in Liberia.

One would think the best option would be a force from the neighboring nations. The Caribbean, Central and south America. The chance of that happening is probably less than zero. In the end if help is to be forthcoming it will be from the US..

Actually, there has been done a lot of political and diplomatic work the whole day today and yesterday.

And exactly this

seems momentarily be excluded:

Powell talks the talk but when the chips are down will he be able to walk the walk. Can or will the US standby and allow this killing to go on indefinitely?

when aristide was being threatened after the election some years ago, he took refuge in canada for about two years. after he went back to haiti and managed to establish some kind of truce, the canadian mounties sent a fair-sized contingent of police-officers to help re-establish law and order and train local police. i remember very well that the mounties upon returning, painted a pretty grim picture. the individual police-officers did not hold out much hope for long-lasting peace. of course, you have the perfect ingredients for unrest and violence : hunger and disease, little education, tribal strife ... i believe only a MASSIVE infusion of help on a long-term basis can improve the situation. now if only they had WMD, they'd have no trouble attracting attention ! hbg

HAITI ERUPTS
here is a canadian view on the current situation in haiti. i would say that the canadian population in general does not like to send troops and police into countries and situations where they are not wanted. >>>CANADIAN POINT OF VIEW

It seems to be agreed let's all sit back and watch the killing continue.

HAITI ERUPTS
here is an article that gives a bit more background information >>>PEACEKEEPING (?) IN HAITI

Was the Comedians by Graham Greene set in Haiti? can't remember for sure. I followed earlier situations and then Aristide early on, but haven't paid that much attention lately. Long time trouble in a small place, and I agree with hamburger that long term help is needed. I have trouble recommending it be the US, and have trouble figuring what kind of help, in that Applied Help is only a bandaid, and people need to work out their preferred cultural way to survive and then be helped in it. Tribalism, we are all not so far from it, or similar group dynamics. I do wish there were benefits for tribal groups, whate'er the/our size and composition, to find it more beneficial to meet and work together, live together.

I also don't want to just watch slaughter happen, oy.

ossobucco : couldn't agree more. i think the great difficulty is to understand what is needed so that people will have a chance to help themselves. i also think where there is such extreme poverty and deprivation it is difficult for the people to see beyond today; their first thought is to find enough food for themselves and their families to survive another day. they don't really have the opportunity or luxury to think what the long-term consequences of their actions are, as an example ; if they have to steal from the neighbour to feed their own family, that's what they have to do, there really is not much of a choice. unless they can actually see that they and their children have hope of a better life (and words won't do), can we expect them to change ? i doubt it very much. hbg

HAITI ERUPTS
this is a good website with general information about HAITI. some 20 years ago a fellow in the investment department of the company i worked for, travelled regularly with his family to haiti for winter vacations. he always described it as a very beautiful country and said that the haitians where an absolute delight : friendly, resourceful, helpful .. the way he described it, it was a little piece of paradise that had been dropped into the caribbean. >>>A LITTLE PIECE OF PARADISE

My long lamented-for-being, diatribed?? (and rightfully, she was a holy terror) sister in law - well, my ex husband's brother's ex-wife, mother of the charmer some here know as Osso's Niece, is a telephone pal across the miles. She is very directly from a tribe in Liberia. Damn, I gave bro in law back his negative that I got blown up to an 11 x 14 or somesuch, of the gathered tribe. She has two grown sons there now, well, one is missing several months (um), and the other is telephoning her for money very often (she lives very at the edge) from Nigeria.

What, not to go on about that, but I have more than separated interest.