The fire this time in Haiti was US-fueled

[dArKeR]

The Bush administration appears to have succeeded in its long-time goal of toppling Aristide through years of blocking international aid to his impoverished nation
By Jeffrey Sachs

Monday, Mar 01, 2004,Page 9

Haiti, once again, is ablaze. President Jean-Bertrand Aristide is widely blamed, and he may be toppled soon. Almost nobody, however, understands that today's chaos was made in Washington -- deliberately, cynically and steadfastly. History will bear this out. In the meantime, political, social, and economic chaos will deepen, and Haiti's impoverished people will suffer.

The Bush administration has been pursuing policies likely to topple Aristide since 2001. The hatred began when Aristide, then a parish priest and democracy campaigner against Haiti's ruthless Duvalier dictatorship, preached liberation theology in the 1980s. Aristide's attacks led US conservatives to brand him as the next Fidel Castro.?

They floated stories that Aristide was mentally deranged. Conservative disdain multiplied several-fold when then-president Bill Clinton took up Aristide's cause after he was blocked from electoral victory in 1991 by a military coup. Clinton put Aristide into power in 1994, and conservatives mocked Clinton for wasting America's efforts on "nation building" in Haiti. This is the same right wing that has squandered US$160 billion on a far more violent and dubious effort at "nation building" in Iraq.?

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/edit/archives/2004/03/01/2003100742

[berry]

1. Thanks for posting this article!

Sachs' first-hand testimony about the ideology-driven campaign against Aristide gives useful context. I do hope it appears in US papers as well.

I wonder if Farmer has also been writing op-eds.

[coloradodem2005]

2. I hope Haiti blows up in Bush's face.

This could cancel out Bin Laden.

[flamingyouth]

3. Great article

Thanks.

[Voltaire99]

4. Nice piece, thanks (n/t)

[Disturbed]

5. The Suckup Media

The Media, which Right Wingnuts keep shouting is "Liberal", will tow the Bushco line that everything will be rosy now that Aristede has fled Haiti with the generous help from the Marines.