In the previous post, I quoted Stan Goff from his book Hideous Dream, a record of his time as a Special Forces team leader in Haiti during the 1994 operation to return a U.S.-hobbled Aristide to power (only to take him out again this year):
We were building an ersatz democracy again. A technical democracy, where everyone had the opportunity to vote in an election where every other process leading to those elections would be controlled by the people with the money. A democracy where we pretend that the power of money has no connection to the political process.
-- Hideous Dream - Stan Goff (Army Ret.), on the 1994 U.S. invasion of Haiti
I've also posted a couple of times on the condition of the Iraqi police, with no armor (plastic helmets!), useless weapons, and no popular support. Just how determined are we that they should be able to maintain order in the streets of Iraqi cities?
We're doing the same thing in Haiti.
Police chief Jean Ronald Baptiste has a .38-caliber pistol in his holster and a nicely pressed policeman's uniform with shiny black shoes. That's the extent of his crime-fighting gear. He said he's so out-gunned and out-manned by the armed factions in this volatile town that he and his 90 officers never leave the station without an escort of peacekeeping soldiers from France.
"The police really exist only in name," said Baptiste, standing in his police station, which, like many across the nation, was looted and burned during weeks of violence that led to the ouster of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide on Feb. 29. "For the time being, the country has no control."
Washington Post article
"The police really exist only in name," said Baptiste, standing in his police station, which, like many across the nation, was looted and burned during weeks of violence that led to the ouster of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide on Feb. 29. "For the time being, the country has no control."
Of course they're not an army - they're civilian police. So one would not expect them to have weapons of war. But I would like you to have a look at the Miami police dressed out for legal and orderly WTO protest marches, a very far cry from the situation of civilian resistance and organized militias that exist in Iraq and Haiti:
photos from UK Indymedia
More
I'm not advocating turning police forces into armies. I'm just saying.
The new prime minister, Gerard Latortue, presides over an interim government that is seen by foreign observers and many Haitians as honest but weak. Some said it was too soon to judge the government's performance, especially given the enormous problems it inherited in the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation.
In addition to preparing for new presidential elections next year, Latortue's chief mission at the moment is to fix the financial "mess" he inherited from Aristide to keep the country from going broke, said a Haitian government official familiar with economic policy.
Washington Post article
In addition to preparing for new presidential elections next year, Latortue's chief mission at the moment is to fix the financial "mess" he inherited from Aristide to keep the country from going broke, said a Haitian government official familiar with economic policy.
As though Aristide created that mess. Let's ask from whom did Aristide inherit it?
For one thing, the U.S. has been meddling and messing in Haiti since way back. Perhaps you remember the name "Papa Doc Duvalier", the dictator for life that we helped to keep in power.
"Duvalier has performed an economic miracle," remarked a Haitian of his country's dictator. "He has taught us to live without money ... to eat without food ... to live without life."
And when Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier's voodoo magic wore thin, he could always count on the US Marines to continue his people's education.
Killing Hope: US military and CIA interventions since World War II, William Blum, p. 145
And when Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier's voodoo magic wore thin, he could always count on the US Marines to continue his people's education.
In 1959, a group organized by exiled Haitians attempted to overthrow the Haitian government and its brutal secret police.
It was at this point that the US military mission, in Haiti to train Duvalier's forces, stepped in. The Americans instituted an air and sea reconnaissance to locate the rebels...The outcome was a complete rout of the rebel forces.
Ibid pp. 45-46
The Kennedy administration, which came to power in January 1961, had little use for Papa Doc, and supported his overthrow as well as his possible assassination. According to the later testimony of CIA official Walter Elder before a Senate investigating committee, the Agency furnished arms to Haitian dissidents seeking to topple the dictator. Elder added that while the assassination of Duvalier was not contemplated, the arms were provided "to help [the dissidents] take what measures were deemed necessary to replace the government," and it was realized, he said, that Duvalier might be killed in the course of the overthrow.
But as Cuba increasingly became the United States' bête noire, the CIA's great obsession, Washington's policy changed. Haiti's cooperation was needed for the success of US efforts to have Cuba expelled from the Organization of American States in 1963. From that point on, Duvalier enjoyed the full diplomatic and economic support of the US.
Ibid p. 46
But as Cuba increasingly became the United States' bête noire, the CIA's great obsession, Washington's policy changed. Haiti's cooperation was needed for the success of US efforts to have Cuba expelled from the Organization of American States in 1963. From that point on, Duvalier enjoyed the full diplomatic and economic support of the US.
And then, we come to Aristide.
What does the government of the United States do when faced with a choice between supporting: (a) a group of totalitarian military thugs guilty of murdering thousands, systematic torture, widespread rape, and leaving severely mutilated corpses in the streets...or (b) a non-violent priest, legally elected to the presidency by a landslide, whom the thugs have overthrown in a coup?...
But what if the priest is a "leftist"?
During the Duvalier family dictatorship - Francois "Papa Doc", 1957-71, followed by Jean-Claude "Baby Doc", 1971-86, both anointed President for Life by papa - the United States trained and armed Haiti's counter-insurgency forces, although most American military aid to the country was covertly channeled through Israel, thus sparing Washington embarrassing questions about supporting brutal governments. After Jean-Claude was forced into exile in February 1986, fleeing to France aboard a US Air Force jet, Washington resumed open assistance. And while Haiti's wretched rabble were celebrating the end of three decades of Duvalierism, the United States was occupied in preserving it under new names.
Ibid p. 370
But what if the priest is a "leftist"?
During the Duvalier family dictatorship - Francois "Papa Doc", 1957-71, followed by Jean-Claude "Baby Doc", 1971-86, both anointed President for Life by papa - the United States trained and armed Haiti's counter-insurgency forces, although most American military aid to the country was covertly channeled through Israel, thus sparing Washington embarrassing questions about supporting brutal governments. After Jean-Claude was forced into exile in February 1986, fleeing to France aboard a US Air Force jet, Washington resumed open assistance. And while Haiti's wretched rabble were celebrating the end of three decades of Duvalierism, the United States was occupied in preserving it under new names.
And then came Jean-Bertrand Aristide, a catholic priest who encouraged the people to resist the process, and who was elected to the presidency by an overwhelming majority. (As an aside, you can follow this same pattern in Venezuela. In fact, the entire events of Aristide's term and US involvement are strikingly similar to those of the election and presidency of Venezuela's Hugo Chávez. However, we haven't gotten a strangle hold in Venezuela yet, but we're working on it.)
When asked why the CIA might have sought to oppose Aristide, a senior official with the Senate Intelligence Committee stated that "Liberation theology proponents are not too popular at the agency. Maybe second only to the Vatican for not liking liberation theology are the people at Langley [CIA headquarters]."
...The Agency later insisted that the purpose of funding [other candidates for presidency] had not been to oppose Aristide but to provide a "free and open election", by which was meant helping some candidates who didn't have enough money and diminishing Aristide's attempt to have a low turnout, which would have "reduced the election's validity". It is not known which candidates the CIA funded or why the Agency or the State Department, which reportedly chose the candidates to support, were concerned about such goals in Haiti, when the same electoral situation exists permanently in the United States.
Ibid p. 371
...The Agency later insisted that the purpose of funding [other candidates for presidency] had not been to oppose Aristide but to provide a "free and open election", by which was meant helping some candidates who didn't have enough money and diminishing Aristide's attempt to have a low turnout, which would have "reduced the election's validity". It is not known which candidates the CIA funded or why the Agency or the State Department, which reportedly chose the candidates to support, were concerned about such goals in Haiti, when the same electoral situation exists permanently in the United States.
And then came the successful coup against Aristide.
No evidence of direct US complicity in the coup has arisen, though, as we shall see, the CIA was financing and training all the important elements of the new military regime, and a Haitian official who supported the coup has reported that US intelligence officers were present at military headquarters as the coup was taking place; this was "normal", he added, for the CIA and DIA (Defense Intelligence Agency) were always there.
Ibid p. 373
CIA involvement in the military (dis)order in Haiti was regular and the US government played a strong role in attempts to squelch the pro-Aristide civilian uprising that followed.
Amongst the worst violators of human rights in Haiti was the Front for the Advancement and Progress of Haiti (FRAPH), actually a front for the army [FAd'H]. The paramilitary group spread deep fear amongst the Haitian people with its regular murders, public beatings, arson raids on poor neighborhoods, and mutilation by machete. FRAPH's leader, Emanuel Constant, went onto the CIA payroll in early 1992, and according to the Agency, this relation ended in mid-1994. Whatever truth lies in that claim, the fact is that by October the American Embassy in Haiti was openly acknowledging that Constant - now a born-again democrat - was on its payroll.
...Constant - who has told in detail of having attended, on invitation, the Clinton inauguration balls - was the organizer of the dockside mob that, on 11 October 1993, chased off a ship carrying US military personnel arriving to retrain the Haitian military under the UN agreement. This was while Constant was on the CIA payroll....Did Washington really want to challenge the military government? Or only appear to do so? Constant actually informed the United States beforehand of what was going to happen, then went on the radio to urge all "patriotic Haitians" to join the massive demonstrations at the dock. The United States did nothing before or after but allow its ship to turn tail and run.
Ibid p. 376
...Constant - who has told in detail of having attended, on invitation, the Clinton inauguration balls - was the organizer of the dockside mob that, on 11 October 1993, chased off a ship carrying US military personnel arriving to retrain the Haitian military under the UN agreement. This was while Constant was on the CIA payroll....Did Washington really want to challenge the military government? Or only appear to do so? Constant actually informed the United States beforehand of what was going to happen, then went on the radio to urge all "patriotic Haitians" to join the massive demonstrations at the dock. The United States did nothing before or after but allow its ship to turn tail and run.
I quoted that last paragraph to question the relationship of a FRAPH leader to President Clinton, who organized the US military invasion to reinstall Aristide. Some people claim Clinton, by virtue of that act, was our pro-democracy president (as opposed to the Bushes). Not true. He just had better cover and appearance. The Clinton administration supported the Haitian military the whole time.
Human rights abuses became so horrendous in Haiti under the coup government that international pressure was put on the US to intervene. So Aristide was approached and coerced into certain agreements in return for being reinstated in Haiti.
"The most violent regime in our hemisphere" .. "campaign of rape, torture and mutilation, people starved" ... "executing children, raping women, killing priests" ... "slaying of Haitian orphans" suspected of "harboring sympathy toward President Aristide, for no other reason than he ran an orphanage in his days as a parish priest" ... "soldiers and policemen raping the wives and daughters of suspected political dissidents - young girls, 13, 16 years old - people slain and mutilated with body parts left as warnings to terrify others; children forced to watch as their mothers' faces are slashed with machetes" ...
Thus spaketh William Jefferson Clinton to the American people to explain why he was seeking to "restore democratic government in Haiti".
The next thing we knew, the Haitian leaders were told that they could take four weeks to resign, they would not be charged with any crimes, they could remain in the country if they wished, they could run for the presidency if they wished, they could retain all their assets no matter how acquired. Those who chose exile were paid large amounts of money by the United States to lease their Haitian properties, any improvements made to remain free of charge; two jets were chartered to fly them with all their furniture to the country of their choice, transportation free, housing and living expenses paid for the next year for all family members and dozens of relatives and friends, totaling millions of dollars.
...Per the above agreement with Raoul Cédras, US armed forces began arriving in Haiti 19 September to clear the way for Aristide's arrival in mid-October. The Americans were welcomed with elation by the Haitian people, and the GIs soon disarmed, arrested, or shot dead some of the worst dangers to life and limb and instigators of chaos in Haitian society.
Ibid p. 380
Thus spaketh William Jefferson Clinton to the American people to explain why he was seeking to "restore democratic government in Haiti".
The next thing we knew, the Haitian leaders were told that they could take four weeks to resign, they would not be charged with any crimes, they could remain in the country if they wished, they could run for the presidency if they wished, they could retain all their assets no matter how acquired. Those who chose exile were paid large amounts of money by the United States to lease their Haitian properties, any improvements made to remain free of charge; two jets were chartered to fly them with all their furniture to the country of their choice, transportation free, housing and living expenses paid for the next year for all family members and dozens of relatives and friends, totaling millions of dollars.
...Per the above agreement with Raoul Cédras, US armed forces began arriving in Haiti 19 September to clear the way for Aristide's arrival in mid-October. The Americans were welcomed with elation by the Haitian people, and the GIs soon disarmed, arrested, or shot dead some of the worst dangers to life and limb and instigators of chaos in Haitian society.
And that brings me back to Stan Goff, a Special Forces team leader for that operation. In his book Hideous Dream, he writes:
The Force Armee d'Haiti (FAd'H: Haitian armed forces) was to be dismantled and/or destroyed.
...What we did not understand at the time was that the fix was in. Plans were already on the board to put these paragons of police virtue...back on the streets.
...We were told in no uncertain terms by "higher" that we would begin redeploying the FAd'H immediately....It was an order, unequivocal, and we were given no option. We would redeploy the FAd'H.
...We began vetting the soldiers in earnest around October 24. It wasn't hard to do. You could get a group of citizens together, and call off the names. They would respond with bon or pa bon [good or not good]. If a soldier consistently received pa bon assessments from every ville we talked to, we assumed he was pa bon.
At each stop, we would have to explain that we were helping decide which soldiers would be permitted to become part of a new police for Aristide. That was not a story. It was a lie we were being told by our own commanders, most as unwitting that it was a lie as we were.
It was tedious work, the vetting, but it was successful. We were achieving consistent results, and felt we had very firm ground to stand on with our recommendations. The populace was also very encouraged by this process.
Eventually, we recommended the exclusion of 41 names as absolutely unacceptable to any sectors of the population.
...Weeks later, when the initial training was scheduled for the new Interim Police Security Force (IPSF), every one of those lads, good, evil, and in between, leapt aboard the Blackhawk to attend. The whole vetting process was blown off. It was eyewash from the beginning.
Hideous Dream pp. 49, 78, 371-373
...What we did not understand at the time was that the fix was in. Plans were already on the board to put these paragons of police virtue...back on the streets.
...We were told in no uncertain terms by "higher" that we would begin redeploying the FAd'H immediately....It was an order, unequivocal, and we were given no option. We would redeploy the FAd'H.
...We began vetting the soldiers in earnest around October 24. It wasn't hard to do. You could get a group of citizens together, and call off the names. They would respond with bon or pa bon [good or not good]. If a soldier consistently received pa bon assessments from every ville we talked to, we assumed he was pa bon.
At each stop, we would have to explain that we were helping decide which soldiers would be permitted to become part of a new police for Aristide. That was not a story. It was a lie we were being told by our own commanders, most as unwitting that it was a lie as we were.
It was tedious work, the vetting, but it was successful. We were achieving consistent results, and felt we had very firm ground to stand on with our recommendations. The populace was also very encouraged by this process.
Eventually, we recommended the exclusion of 41 names as absolutely unacceptable to any sectors of the population.
...Weeks later, when the initial training was scheduled for the new Interim Police Security Force (IPSF), every one of those lads, good, evil, and in between, leapt aboard the Blackhawk to attend. The whole vetting process was blown off. It was eyewash from the beginning.
To this day [December 2000 - publishing date], no one has begun the systematic prosecution of the defacto regime criminals. Many are being sheltered by the United States government, including Toto Constant, head of the FRAPH.
Ibid p. 451
And so you wonder how the Aristide government failed to restore calm to Haiti and had to be removed earlier this year.
Previous Haiti posts
More on Haiti
Click graphics to purchase
