Voting on Haiti

Jean-Bertrand Aristide has arrived in Jamaica for what's expected to be an eight to ten week visit with his daughters while he makes plans for a permanent home in exile in another country, AP reports on March 15.

He'd sent his daughters to the US for their safety when things began to deteriorate in Haiti.

Interim Haitian Prime Minister Gerard Latortue, installed by a US-backed "council of sages," had previously called the decision by Jamaican Prime Minister P.J. Patterson to allow Aristide's visit an "unfriendly act" that would increase tensions in Haiti. He responded to Aristide's arrival in Kingston by suspending both diplomatic relations with Jamaica and Haiti's membership in the Caribbean Community and suggesting Aristide was paying Haitians "to destabilize the country."

(Sidebar: This was after Francois Bozize, president of the Central African Republic, decided he would "allow" Aristide to leave the country. Remember how when Aristide got there we were assured he had gone willingly and was in "no way" a prisoner?)

Breaking ties to the Caribbean Community likely has very little to do with Aristide or Jamaica and a great deal to do with the fact that CARICOM

has called for an international investigation into Aristide's claim that he was abducted by U.S. officials and forced to leave Haiti.

Okay, show of hands here: How many of you think that Latortue's anger has to do with public safety, that is, protecting the lives and property of innocent Haitians, and how many of you think it's about government safety, that it, protecting the positions of the clique now establishing itself in Port-au-Prince?

Footnote: If any of your are unsure of your vote, you should read the following carefully. It's from BBC News, March 14.

Top US general Richard Myers has warned it will take time to restore stability in Haiti after the departure of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

Speaking during a brief visit, General Myers said violence would not be tolerated and would be "dealt with". ...

General Myers said that it was not the mission of the peacekeepers to take sides, adding that the troops will only fire when fired upon....

Reports say the mission of the peacekeepers has expanded from securing key installations to disarming the local population, particularly in areas where support for the former president is strong.

Read that last part again and tell me how that is not taking sides. And when you're done, explain how violence can't be tolerated now but apparently could be until Aristide was forced out. Then vote.