Hti: Multilateralism didn't work

Read the story of the Bush Administration's efforts on Haiti. Here's a bit of it:

On Dec. 15, as the crisis boiled, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice scheduled a meeting at the White House with Trinidad's prime minister, Patrick Manning. In a planned drop-by, President Bush arrived and said he had something to discuss.

Bush told Manning that the situation in Haiti was growing more dangerous, posing risks to the region and to the impoverished nation itself, said two U.S. officials. The president said the 15-nation Caribbean Community needed to show more leadership in finding a peaceful solution.

Bush's message that day reflected what U.S. officials and foreign diplomats describe as his administration's consistent approach to Haiti: persuading other nations and institutions to do the diplomatic heavy-lifting to produce a political compromise, a strategy the White House pursued until days before Aristide's Feb. 29 resignation.