Ja: We were ready and willing to send troops

JAMAICA WAS Ready and willing to provide troops to support the constitutional process in Haiti, a government spokesman said, but he added that no deployment had been decided on yet.

Two weeks ago, Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin, Chief-of-Staff of the Jamaica Defence Force, said there needed to be some level of political understanding in Haiti before JDF soldiers would be deployed there.

In a statement yesterday, K.D. Knight, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, said that Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Heads of Government would be looking at the circumstances which led to President Aristide's resignation.

"Then certain action will flow naturally," he said.

I like the line they're walking in Jamaica. It's the same line that the rest of Caricom has been walking as far back as their non-attendance at Haiti's Independence celebrations. Caricom is firm in its support for "the constitutional process in Haiti," not for Aristide.

My question is this: is there a violation of constitutional process if the head of a country arrives at a decision under the gun?

If Jamaica or the rest of Caricom argues yes, then I must demand that T&T jail Abu Bakr immediately and the chief justice in T&T be impeached. For, the courts in T&T ruled that though Acting President Clarke came to a negotiated agreement with Bakr -- against the wishes of then PM A.N.R. Robinson, who was then literally under the gun, having been shot and wounded -- that agreement was legal and binding and had to be honored since Clarke himself was not literally at gunpoint. It was a wonderful bit of hairsplitting. The fact remains that Clarke felt pressured to negotiate because Robinson's life was at risk, and it didn't matter that Robbie was willing to die for the sake of constitutional process.

If I'm wrong in my details, memory being what it it, please let me know.