U.S mistakes in Haiti

That U.S. invasion nearly 11 years ago was supposed to restore Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who had been ousted in a military coup, liberate the Haitians from their barbaric military, and, most importantly, stop the exodus of Haitian boat people to Florida.

President Clinton sent 23,000 American troops. Although Republicans worked furiously against it, Aristide was returned to power. Clinton proclaimed that democracy had been restored. The problem, however, is that it's impossible to restore something where it never existed. More than a decade after the U.S. withdrew its troops and moved on, Haiti has lapsed into total anarchy.

Violence -- both random and politically motivated -- has always been a serious problem. Now, it is out of control. Armed gangs roam the streets with Uzis, carjacking and kidnapping people at will. Rival groups rampage through the slums terrorizing the residents. The ill-equipped police and U.N. peacekeepers have been unable to quell the violence.

Human rights groups say that 620 people have been killed since September. Aristide, once again in exile, claims 10,000 have died since a coup in February 2004 forced his departure during his second term.

The U.S. State Department has told all American citizens to leave Haiti and sent its non-emergency personnel in Port-au-Prince packing. The U.S.-installed puppet Prime Minister Gerard Latortue objected bitterly: "It's a hard blow that the Americans have dealt to us."

The whole thing does remind one of rats leaving a sinking ship. The United States, along with Canada and France, bear a large share of the responsibility for the current mess in the former French colony. It was the United States that encouraged a band of killers from the Dominican Republic -- former soldiers in the Haitian military implicated in several massacres of Aristide supporters -- to invade Haiti. There is strong evidence that the U.S. supplied their weapons. Instead of protecting Aristide, who despite his many flaws, is still Haiti's democratically elected president, the U.S. forced him onto a plane bound for the Central African Republic.

Today, most of the fighting appears to be between the supporters of the Lavalas party who want Aristide to return and supporters of the former military. According to human rights groups, the Latortue government has killed hundreds of Lavalas supporters and forced many others into hiding. Lavalas gangs also have done their share of killing.

The United States insists Haiti will hold elections in October. Lavalas, the largest political party, has said it will not participate.

Rushing to hold elections in the midst of anarchy is a formula for disaster. The United States must use its leverage to force the Latortue government to negotiate with Aristide and Lavalas. Aristide remains the country's most influential political figure and there will be no solution to the current crisis without his participation.