Hti: Caricom's Democrats

The 15-nation Caribbean Community, meanwhile, refused to join an international peacekeeping force in Haiti and called for an independent international inquiry into Aristide's allegations that he was forced out office by the United States.

Jamaican Prime Minister P.J. Patterson said CARICOM was "extremely disappointed" at the involvement of "Western partners" in the hasty departure of Aristide.

Patterson, speaking for the trading bloc after an emergency meeting in the Jamaican capital, criticized the U.N. Security Council, saying it had ignored an urgent Caribbean appeal to it on Thursday to send peacekeepers to Haiti before Aristide was forced out.

Did the Caricom heads need to travel to Jamaica to decide that since their initiative didn't work they were going to take their ball and go home? Since the U.N. didn't listen when Caricom spoke, now Caricom won't play with the U.N.? How petty and vindictive, and unbecoming of these representatives of Caribbean peoples!

Thus Caricom elevates its pride in playing with the big boys on the international stage over the welfare and well-being of the Haitian people. Furthermore, with its insistent demands for constitutional process and rule of law having been met by the resignation which Aristide signed of his own free will, Caricom, by ignoring that resignation, is wilfully evading any responsibility for its partner nation, Haiti, when it predicates any action on an "independent international inquiry into Aristide's allegations"

The absurdity of that demand is patent on its face. From where will the individuals who will engage in this "independent inquiry" come? From Europe? From the Mid-East? From Asia? From Russia? From South America? From the Caribbean? Where? In this post-Saddam world, which nation would not like to stick a knife in the back of the U.S. because of its aggressiveness in self-defense? This request for an inquiry is a betrayal of Haiti, a dodging of responsibility, and an excuse for inaction. If Caricom heads know their countries lack the resources to put troops in the field, they should stand up like men and say so. Even Canada needs U.S. help to put men in the field. There is no need to resort to artful dodging.

Let us say, for argument's sake, that an inquiry comes to pass. What is to happen to Haiti during the time it takes for the inquiry to convene and be resolved? Is Haiti supposed to remain in some limbo of constitutional process and rule of law whilst the world determines whether Aristide was persuaded to leave or resigned because he found persuasive the argument that his own neck would be on the line?

What, then, in Caricom's view, is to be done with Haiti? Obviously, Caricom's answer is two-fold. The first answer is nothing at all. The second answer is that Haiti is to be punished because nobody could persuade the rebels to see things Caricom's way, and because cher Aristide (with whom Caricom heads would not be seen because of his electoral legitimacy issues) was so hurry to get out of Dodge that he resigned without informing Caricom.

Though PM Patterson expresses his disappointment "at the involvement of 'Western partners' in the hasty departure of Aristide," he fails to express an equal disappointment in Caricom, which failed to exercise any independent initiative or leadership on the Haiti issue. Haiti is a partner of Caricom. After Caricom is the OAS. After OAS is the U.N. Thus, Caricom is the organization most promixate in terms of geography and political concern for stability. Therefore, in spite of U.N. dissent, Caricom could have, by the laws of the organization, defended a decision to put peacekeepers in Haiti to restore rule of law. There are enough brilliant legal minds in Caricom to convince the world that the midday sky is black. Therefore, that Caricom did not act, signals that Caricom lacked the will to. Furthermore, by not sending in its own forces and expecting other countries to, Caricom indicated that it desired the international body to do that which, as Haiti's closest allies, it did not want to. Thus, one may conclude that Caricom, no less than the U.S., was unwilling to have any of its members' forces die that Aristide's questionable reign might continue.

Further shaming Caricom is this:

Chile said it was sending 120 special forces to Haiti, the first of about 300.

Meanwhile, unlike the Haitian poor to whom he broke many promises, Aristide is living in comfort and

staying in the presidential palace in the Central African Republic, the African country's foreign minister, Charles Wenezoui said.

"Aristide really likes to read" and has slept a lot, said Wenezoui. "We're about to give him a television and satellite dish so that he can monitor news around the world."

This way, Aristide can see the chaos his false accusations have created in international organizations, and he can rock back and laugh in comfort, satisfied that he has remained true to his false nature.