In January, I wrote that 2004 will be the year that determines whether American democracy survives. The statement was more prophetic and carried broader implications than I realized. Democracy has been killed in Haiti, the semi-island nation in the Caribbean and American fingerprints are all over the corpse.
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was hustled out of the country early Sunday on an American jet and – he says – at the point of an American gun. In response, the White House trotted out its highest-ranking official with roots in the Caribbean – Colin Powell – to call Mr. Aristide’s charge “absolutely baseless, absurd.” George W. Bush has turned political absurdity into standard fare these past three years, so perhaps Mr. Aristide’s remarks should not be easily dismissed.
Jean-Bertrand Aristide was a slum priest decrying the cruelty of the Duvalier regime in the 1980s. He traded his cassock for a politician’s suit and won Haiti’s first democratic presidential election in 1990. Eight months, later, he was overthrown by the military and went into exile. President George H.W. Bush did nothing to stop the ouster of a democratically-elected president, because Mr. Aristide’s policies leaned too far left for Poppy Bush’s taste. In 1994, President Bill Clinton sent Mr. Aristide back into power, with the U.S. military guaranteeing his political – and literal –survival. In 1996, Mr. Aristide peacefully ceded power, a first in Haiti’s recent history.
Mr. Aristide staged a comeback, won a second term and was re-inaugurated in February 2001. This was spectacularly bad timing on his part. George W. Bush has just taken the oath of office in the U.S. and like dad, he has no use for Mr. Aristide, so he cut off aid to Haiti, the poorest country in the hemisphere. The only real surprise about what happened next was that Mr. Aristide stayed in office as long as he did.
A year ago, the Bushies helped engineer a coup against Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez, only their mob in Caracas didn’t lock him up tight; he got loose and reclaimed his presidency. The lesson the White House took from that was not to avoid undermining democracy, but to get the victim on a plane and get him out of the country. For weeks the Bush administration stood by as lawless gangs – inevitably financed by the CIA – gained control of more and more of Haiti, looting and killing. When it seemed the capital was about to erupt, U.S. stepped in, only to tell Mr. Aristide to get out. Now the American government is giving more consideration to head thug Guy Philippe than it did to Haiti’s president.
The media claims that in recent years, Mr. Aristide has become more of a typical Caribbean politician and less the fiery advocate for the poor he was 15 years ago. The U.S. media used to criticize Mr. Aristide because he stood up too much for the poor; now they say he doesn’t do it enough. If this perceived diminution of Mr. Aristide’s ethical standing disqualifies him from the office to which he was elected, what are we to do with other presidents? Pakistan’s Pervez Musharraf stood by for years while his government sold nuclear secrets to Iran and North Korea. Shouldn’t Colin Powell call him and demand that he leave office? Shouldn’t we send a plane to Islamabad to take him away? Of course, Mr. Musharraf was not elected; he seized power, I suppose there’s a loophole. The same edition of the New York Times that carried the news of Mr. Aristide’s departure also has a bit of fluff about how Messrs. Powell and Musharraf have a “general to general” relationship. Endearing.
Secretary of State Colin Powell has turned out to be a thoroughgoing crock. He was supposed to be the moral compass of the Bush administration; see to what he has been reduced. Mr. Powell defends his actions by repeated invocations of the “good solider” defense. This “good soldier” has stood by while we bugged the missions of Security Council members in the run up to the Iraq war, himself delivered a double mouthful of lies to the same Security Council, helped the U.S. play dishonest broker in the Middle East and watched two American presidents unlawfully deposed – one, it seems, for good. All the while, Colin Powell plays “good soldier” to his draft-dodging, duty-shirking, phoney-warmongering commander-in-chief.
Now it’s come to the Caribbean, home to the Jamaican Mr. Powell’s forebears. After selling out the oath he took to defend the Constitution, Colin Powell is now going to sell out his heritage. Someone should tell General Powell that a “good soldier” refuses to obey an illegal order.
The Good Soldier
In January, I wrote that 2004 will be the year that determines whether American democracy survives. The statement was more prophetic and carried broader implications than I realized. Democracy has been killed in Haiti, the semi-island nation in the Caribbean and American fingerprints are all over the corpse.
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was hustled out of the country early Sunday on an American jet and – he says – at the point of an American gun. In response, the White House trotted out its highest-ranking official with roots in the Caribbean – Colin Powell – to call Mr. Aristide’s charge “absolutely baseless, absurd.” George W. Bush has turned political absurdity into standard fare these past three years, so perhaps Mr. Aristide’s remarks should not be easily dismissed.
Jean-Bertrand Aristide was a slum priest decrying the cruelty of the Duvalier regime in the 1980s. He traded his cassock for a politician’s suit and won Haiti’s first democratic presidential election in 1990. Eight months, later, he was overthrown by the military and went into exile. President George H.W. Bush did nothing to stop the ouster of a democratically-elected president, because Mr. Aristide’s policies leaned too far left for Poppy Bush’s taste. In 1994, President Bill Clinton sent Mr. Aristide back into power, with the U.S. military guaranteeing his political – and literal –survival. In 1996, Mr. Aristide peacefully ceded power, a first in Haiti’s recent history.
Mr. Aristide staged a comeback, won a second term and was re-inaugurated in February 2001. This was spectacularly bad timing on his part. George W. Bush has just taken the oath of office in the U.S. and like dad, he has no use for Mr. Aristide, so he cut off aid to Haiti, the poorest country in the hemisphere. The only real surprise about what happened next was that Mr. Aristide stayed in office as long as he did.
A year ago, the Bushies helped engineer a coup against Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez, only their mob in Caracas didn’t lock him up tight; he got loose and reclaimed his presidency. The lesson the White House took from that was not to avoid undermining democracy, but to get the victim on a plane and get him out of the country. For weeks the Bush administration stood by as lawless gangs – inevitably financed by the CIA – gained control of more and more of Haiti, looting and killing. When it seemed the capital was about to erupt, U.S. stepped in, only to tell Mr. Aristide to get out. Now the American government is giving more consideration to head thug Guy Philippe than it did to Haiti’s president.
The media claims that in recent years, Mr. Aristide has become more of a typical Caribbean politician and less the fiery advocate for the poor he was 15 years ago. The U.S. media used to criticize Mr. Aristide because he stood up too much for the poor; now they say he doesn’t do it enough. If this perceived diminution of Mr. Aristide’s ethical standing disqualifies him from the office to which he was elected, what are we to do with other presidents? Pakistan’s Pervez Musharraf stood by for years while his government sold nuclear secrets to Iran and North Korea. Shouldn’t Colin Powell call him and demand that he leave office? Shouldn’t we send a plane to Islamabad to take him away? Of course, Mr. Musharraf was not elected; he seized power, I suppose there’s a loophole. The same edition of the New York Times that carried the news of Mr. Aristide’s departure also has a bit of fluff about how Messrs. Powell and Musharraf have a “general to general” relationship. Endearing.
Secretary of State Colin Powell has turned out to be a thoroughgoing crock. He was supposed to be the moral compass of the Bush administration; see to what he has been reduced. Mr. Powell defends his actions by repeated invocations of the “good solider” defense. This “good soldier” has stood by while we bugged the missions of Security Council members in the run up to the Iraq war, himself delivered a double mouthful of lies to the same Security Council, helped the U.S. play dishonest broker in the Middle East and watched two American presidents unlawfully deposed – one, it seems, for good. All the while, Colin Powell plays “good soldier” to his draft-dodging, duty-shirking, phoney-warmongering commander-in-chief.
Now it’s come to the Caribbean, home to the Jamaican Mr. Powell’s forebears. After selling out the oath he took to defend the Constitution, Colin Powell is now going to sell out his heritage. Someone should tell General Powell that a “good soldier” refuses to obey an illegal order.
(c) Mark Floegel, 2004