Issues of World Affairs

In an earlier post today I said that the choice this November can affect world affairs. This reminded me of an article I read in the WSJ last week, "Kerry's Favorite Hatian The Democrat wouldn't use U.S. troops to depose a dictator. But he would use them to impose one."

Mary Anastasia O'Grady begins the insightful piece this way:

John Kerry has now decided, retrospectively, that he would not have gone to war to remove Saddam Hussein. But he would have put U.S. troops in harm's way to shield Haitian strongman Jean Bertrand Aristide from a revolt of his own people in February. "I would have been prepared to send troops immediately, period," Mr. Kerry told the New York Times on March 4.

This assertion from the would-be commander in chief seems to have had some unfortunate repercussions. Emboldened by a prominent champion in the U.S., the deposed Aristide's Lavalas Party thugs are committing mayhem again.

While rescuers were pulling the bodies of over 1,500 drowned victims of Hurricane Jeanne out of a flooded Gonaives last week and trying to ward off disease, Aristide supporters launched a wave of violence in Port-au-Prince. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said Monday: "These are the old Aristide elements and some criminal elements who are trying to take advantage of the situation."

The opportunistic brutality included the beheading of three Haitian policemen. Haitian journalists are referring to the assault as "Operation Baghdad." The chaos, local observers maintain, is meant to demonstrate that Bush policy in Haiti is a failure. Any guess who the urban guerrillas are rooting for in the U.S. elections?

This is only part of the result of what is essentially John Kerry's "International Campaign" where he courts the voters of other countries.

The middle part of the article has an intriguing discussion of a Telecom situation in Haiti and then these are her final sentences:

A full report that clears up once and for all the truth about what happened under Aristide control may go a long way toward establishing the moral authority of the new government.
It might also stop John Kerry from using desperately poor Haiti as a weapon against his Washington opponents and instead put him on a more constructive path for helping a suffering people.

I talked yesterday about how President Bush has to be careful because his words have consequences. Apparently John Kerry's do as well and he has used his power and influence irresponsibly, at least in this case.