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Jesse Jackson on Haiti, Iraq:Bush Policies Lack Moral Foundation
President Bush is waging a war on truth, accountability and integrity, rather than a war on terrorism in Iraq, Haiti and elsewhere. His foreign policy of "regime change," "preemptive strike" and "unilateral action" has no moral or legal foundation. The Iraq war is about oil, not terrorism; about destroying Saddam Hussein rather than destroying the weapons of mass destruction; about empire, not democracy. Former top Bush officials now accuse the White House of deliberately misleading the American people to take us to war. This is an issue of credibility, competence and perhaps even criminality. Similarly, Secretary Powell's trip to Haiti to bless and give credibility to the new regime violates international law, human rights and democracy. For years the Bush administration has withheld promised aid and did everything it could to undermine President Aristide's duly elected government. Then, when so-called rebels unleashed a wave of violence and threatened Aristide this year, the President and Secretary of State stood idly by and failed to defend Haiti's democracy. The rebel leaders are notorious murderers, drug dealers and gangsters associated with the former U.S.-backed dictatorship of "Papa Doc" Duvalier. ILLEGAL "REGIME CHANGE" IN HAITIYet the White House directly and indirectly furnished them with weapons to attack Aristide and terrorize the Haitian people. Then the Bush policy of "regime change" was implemented when U.S. soldiers removed President Aristide from Haiti and exiled him to Central Africa. The credibility of the newly installed U.S.-backed government of Gerard Latortue is so damaged that the Bush administration is now appealing to this new regime not to put gangsters and drug dealers in the cabinet. The "rebels" have brazenly reneged on their promise to disarm and are now engaged in searching for, seizing and killing innocent civilians on a daily basis. We call on the U.S. and the international community to provide protection and a safe haven for Aristide supporters and all innocent Haitians. We support the 15-nation Caribbean Community's call for an inquiry into the role of the U.S. and others in the overthrow of the Aristide government. There is a sinking pattern to the Bush administration's exploits in foreign affairs. Former administration officials--from Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill to anti-terrorism leader Richard Clarke to chief U.S. weapons inspector David Kay--now openly admit that the invasion and occupation of Iraq was founded upon flawed intelligence. They have found no weapons of mass destruction, no links to Al Qaeda, no evidence of Iraq's imminent threat to the U.S. or anybody. The Bush administration is embroiled in an escalating quagmire resulting in the daily loss of American lives and the killing of innocent Iraqis, with no end in sight. Now Secretary Powell visits a Haiti that is poised to return, with Bush administration backing, the gangsters, drug dealers and thugs from the previous Haiti dictatorship to power and unleash chaos in that country. The Bush administration's credibility and moral authority in the world is sinking deeper and deeper. The war on terror and Al Qaeda has been diverted to the Bush administration's reckless and ill-advised military actions aimed at destroying governments. They will be held accountable by the American people and the family of nations, as we seek peace, democracy and justice. |
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