Haiti Invasion Coming?

According to Americas.Org:

"...the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush apparently expects the government to collapse. Haiti is ?turning into a non-country,? an unnamed U.S. official told the Miami Herald. ?Haiti is unraveling. We?re meeting to look at what our options are, which are pretty bleak,? the official said. ?Given the lack of a clear post-Aristide leader,? the Herald writes, ?some U.S. officials wonder quietly whether Haiti should be declared a `failed state? and be handed over to the United Nations or the Organization of American States for temporary administration.? (MH 11/29/02, 11/30/02)

... There is no Haitian army; the 24,500-member Dominican army is the only standing military force on the island that Haiti shares with the Dominican Republic. On November 25, the Miami Herald reported that the United States is sending the Dominican military 20,000 M-16 assault rifles starting in January and that U.S. troops will join Dominican soldiers in patrols along the Dominican-Haitian border. Groups of 900 U.S. soldiers will do 15-day rotations, with 8,000 U.S. soldiers involved over the course of 2003. The Dominican military initially denied the report, but Dominican President Hip?lito Mej?a confirmed it on November 28 during a visit to Japan. (HP 11/27/02; MH 11/25/02; Hoy (Santo Domingo) website 11/28/02)"

*************************************************

The US troops are already here. An old friend in the Seabees is currently at work building facilities in Constanza. So, the Bushees may accept horrible governments in Venezuela, Guatemala and the DR, but will not accept the risks of a "non-country". Wasn't Afghanastan more or less a "non-country" too? I think invasion is a real possibility - this time with at least logistics support from the Dominican side.

If it happens, should Dominican troops be involved, as the above article suggests they might? I say no. The history is too bleak (and the Dominican ejercito too incompetent and unpredictable).

Criss,

Have the post moved if you like. I don't see how the post bashes the US or Haiti - it merely states facts, most of which are indisputable. And even if it did bash, it is still most certainly about the DR. Is the new rule that there shall be no bashing of Haiti or the US? What next, no bashing of The Hippo??? When that happens I'll start posting to the "Pakistan1" website instead.

Criss,

This will shock you, but I agree that Americas.Org is highly left-slanted. But at least they are reporting on the troops when no other US sources (except the Miami Herald, which printed a story that was apparently culled directly from the USIA - complete with photo of a Domican soldier handing out pesos to Haitian children, if you can believe it) seems to notice or care. For that reason, you can disagree with the implications of the article. But which facts exactly do you disagree with? And why do YOU (or anyone else) think there are US troops in the Dominican Republic?

And, yes, Haiti, as a "non-state", creates many dangers for the DR and for the US. For DR, it's definitely a drug and arms smuggling problem. Right now, the DR has wonderfully few handguns? That might change.

The US is obsessed with drugs and Haiti's growing role in their transhipment. Also, if Haiti becomes like the old Medellin or Juarez, won't that kind of ilicit money funelling through the border destabilize the DR's institutions? But, perhaps more than anything, the US doesn't want a further flood of Haitian migrants.

By the way, I love your photos. And I'm not looking forward to posting to "Pakistan1", either. What would I write: "Beaches in Baluchistan that have the fewest suicide bombers? Catching a glimpse of exposed ankle at the Cafe Taliban"

Agreed. I didn't mean to single out Pakistan, AZB. I'd love to visit your country some day (I'm in the 101st Airborne). Your women have some of the most attractive ankles I've ever seen.

Just kidding about the 101st Airborne thing. And some of the most intelligent people I know are Pakistani.

Pib,

I used to think that Aristide would be an improvement for Haiti. And I do not reject out of hand the idea of a popular revolutionary president spending a disproportionate amount of time and energy trying to stay in power in the face of entrenched and powerful internal and external opposition. But Haiti appears to have already collapsed. I can't see any agenda for Aristide other than staying in power. He's holed up in his mansion with swimming pool and caucasian wife while the country falls to pieces. In effect, then, is he really any better than the corrupt, racist, classist mulattos that ran the place before? As a non-state, Haiti is a tremendous problem for the DR, and I don't think the US will allow it to become a tremendous problem for the US.

AZB,

Maybe you can send a message back home to Pakistan about how great the ankles of Dominicanas are. I think the DR could use some Pakistani doctors, engineers, merchants, etc. Tell them that they may even be able to see more than ankle here, and that you actually get to choose your wife! But don't invite the insanely radical types from Karachi, the Northwest Frontier or Kashmir please.