Michelle Malkin links to a BBC report that says:
The commander of the UN peacekeepers in Haiti has linked a recent upsurge in violence there to comments made by the US presidential candidate, John Kerry.Earlier this year Mr Kerry said that as president he would have sent American troops to protect Jean-Bertrand Aristide who was ousted from power in February.
The Brazilian UN general, Augusto Heleno, said Mr Kerry's comments had offered "hope" to Aristide supporters. Much of the recent unrest has centred on areas loyal to Mr Aristide.
More than 50 people have died over the past fortnight.
JK never did buy into that "politics stops at the waters' edge" stuff, even (especially?) in wartime. He was doing this 33 years ago, and hasn't learned much.
By the way, Michelle also has two excellent posts up dealing with the flu vaccine shortage and its causes.
Posted by dan at October 17, 2004 10:16 AMThis is silly. To begin with, the general has recanted his comments.
Kerry made the statement more than seven months ago. His statement was also in keeping with what Colin Powell said here:
Mr. Powell called on Mr. Aristide to help defuse the situation by putting in place a political agreement, brokered with other Caribbean nations, to disarm his loyalists, reform the police and welcome political opponents into a new governing council.Mr. Powell said the United States would not support Mr. Aristide's removal in a coup.
"We cannot buy into a proposition that says the elected president must be forced out of office by thugs," the secretary said. [my emphasis]
That's essentially what happened.
Haiti has a literacy rate of just over 50% according to the CIA Factbook. The language is French and Haitian Creole. The communications infrastructure is devastated.
That dog won't hunt.
Posted by: Randy Paul at October 21, 2004 01:25 PM