Sunday, January 31, 2010

America's Sad History with Haiti, Part 2

By Lisa Pease
February 1, 2010

The Haitians have a saying in their native créole language: Piti, piti, wazo fe nich li. “Little by little, the bird builds its nest.”

Read on.
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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I read that the US did not recognize Haiti when the black slaves revolted back in the 1800s and gained their freedom. I read that the reason was because of the fact that the US government recognized slavery in the southern states. If this is true, it would be the best place to start in educating Americans. If I missed this part already, my bad.

Mon Feb 01, 09:23:00 AM 2010
Bill from Saginaw said...

"President Clinton, unable to get the CIA to do his bidding, turned to the military. At least there he was still recognized as Commander-in-Chief."

Fascinating. The CIA tail was wagging the Big Dog. I knew Bill Clinton had a tense and awkward relationship with the Central Intelligence Agency throughout his presidency, but I had no idea it was that bad.

There used to be jokes inside the DC beltway about how CIA Director James Woolsey and President Bill Clinton avoided face-to-face meetings (ie. presidential briefings) with each other due to the ideological gulf separating them. Somewhere I read the popular quip was that the only way Woolsey would ever get into the Oval Office to speak with the President was if he was dropped on the White House lawn from a helicopter.

If this anecdote about Clinton seeking the help of the CIA's black ops boys to restore Aristide to power in Haiti - and being told no by the powers-that-be at Langley - is true, it speaks volumes about what has happened to the whole concept of civilian control over the paramilitary activities of the CIA.

Small wonder Barack Obama seems highly reluctant to confront Secretary of Defense Robert Gates about what our DIA asset alumni from the School for the Americas were up to during the most recent Carribean region military coup that overthrew the democratically elected president of Honduras last spring. Perhaps neither the spooks nor the soldiers are accountable to civilian control from the top any more.

Bill from Saginaw

Mon Feb 01, 06:29:00 PM 2010
Real History Lisa said...

Bill,

That is why I write. If people understand this, they might actually try to fix that situation. But when people don't realize this may well be the case, they remain complacent, leaving our constitutional form of government seriously at risk.

Thanks for your comments. And Anonymous - Robert Parry wrote an article about the period to which you refer right after the earthquake happened. Look back to around January 15th or so for that piece.

Mon Feb 01, 08:59:00 PM 2010

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