Good point. Wasn't the former colony/past influence argument posed as for reasons why the US should have gone into Liberia? It's utterly hillarious to me that people who complain about the Iraq situation and say the US deserved 9/11 because of its meddling in others affairs are the first ones to call for US involvement in Haiti.

I think we, as Americans currently governed by adults, owe it to the Haitian people to help them stablize their economy and get true democracy flourishing there. Especially after Kid Clinton re-installed the dictator Aristide there and had the audacity to call his thugs a "police force" and his voter intimidation tactics "restored democracy." It would be another feather in Bush's cap to teach the Democrats the difference between "photo-ops" and "restoring democracy." Look to Africa to see France's record at nation-building. No thanks, keep the frogs on the other side of the pond.

Yeah, I kind of agree. I think it far better to go in now that everything is blown to hell, and establish order rather to have gone in before and done another Guetamala-esque type proping up of a dictator.

was when the govt was backed by the US marines. The rest is just a litany of corrupt leaders. If I were doing some Real PolitiK , I woould let the UN prop up Haiti (no US suppport at all) and compare it to the US's unilateral (*Snicker*) support of Iraq.

>I think we, as Americans currently governed by adults, owe it to the Haitian people to help them stablize their economy and get true democracy flourishing there...< You're right of course AmK...perhaps, like the 'vulture', I look at the history of Haiti and sense a hopelessness of expectations that the population will work to solve it's core problems! The 'RealPolitik' to which the vulture alludes also has a certain appeal, especially this close to the election. Still, you're optimism for success is the kind of stuff that makes a America great! I suppose we'll have to start on our "Troubled Islands" in this hemisphere sooner or later. Might just as well use Haiti as the poster child for American Democracy (Republican Style). Maybe the oppressed people of Cuba will get the hint. PS Maybe we could just buy the Island to replace Vieques & Roosevelt Roads? Nah I guess the tourists on the other side of the Island wouldn't appreciate the irony...

>I think we, as Americans currently governed by adults, owe it to the Haitian people to help them stablize their economy and get true democracy flourishing there...< "You're right of course AmK...perhaps, like the 'vulture', I look at the history of Haiti and sense a hopelessness of expectations that the population will work to solve it's core problems!" Maybe I'm just a grumpy curmudgeon-in-training, but usually I take the stance that other country's problems are other country's peoples to deal with. But in Haiti, we as Americans share fault in the problems that arose there under Aristide's reign of corruption because we forceably re-installed him and looked away, leaving him to hijack the democratic process from his people, disenfranchising a majority dissident population (that kicked his ass out in the first place in 1991) and ignoring the problems Aristide's sheer thuggery was causing long enough for it to boil over into anarchy again. We've got 8 years worth of international bungling to make restitution for, and as long as the World Court has no death penalty, turning over Bill Clinton for trial is about as useless as Kool-Aid at a keg party. So, the second best thing we can do is clean up the mess.

...Jackie Mason to the "Paul Bremmer" position. Problem solved.

And now there's no one left to build a nation on. We'd have to take over the country, remove Haitian children from their parents and educate them. The Haitians capable of running a reasonably decent civilization now live in the USA. So with nothing but "bad guys" and "more bad guys" and "innocent victims who will be just as bad as the baddest bad guys if they get half a chance or a loaded weapon" I don't see the place as salvageable.

Definatly one for the UN. Let them call a few security council resolutions, debate it agree on it organise it and months later, when evryone is dead,send in observers in a humanitarian only role, completly devoid of G.I's and Tom's. Give them very specific ROE in case any civilians with guns are celerbrating with streams of 7.62mm towards them. ( we dont want any accidents) Yup It would have showed the world that the UN dosnt need USA/UK. Actually , It would jus provoke crys of "Americas fault they should have sent in the Marines", But the marines are there now so the world can sleep safe and still have a scapegoat if it goes wrong!

On the other hand, there is a sizable Haitian-American community that holds dual citizenship. These should be at the forefront of returning civilization to the island. I also see Haiti as a test bed for all the AIDS fighting initiatives Bush has planned for Africa. Haiti IS the most impoverished nation in the world, bar none. Even Cuba tops them, as the second most impoverished nation. This is where the rubber means the road, folks. For all the talk of averting humanitarian crises, reversing environmental and deforestation disasters, and lifting up the world's poor, Haiti is a shining example of why leftist NGOs are categorically full of sh*t. It's time to do the right thing. Give these people hope, not rhetoric.