A new army is not what Haiti needs

Washington Post Editorial : A new army is not what Haiti needs
By Editorial, Published: October 16

HAITI’S CATALOGUE of critical needs seems endless, all the more so since the crippling earthquake in January last year. But one item nowhere near the top of Haiti’s list of priorities, nor even remotely advisable, is reconstituting a national army. Unfortunately, President Michel Martelly wants to do just that.

Haiti’s army was disbanded in 1995 by President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, and with good reason. Four years earlier, Mr. Aristide was just the latest of many Haitian leaders whose tenures were violently cut short by army officers or enlisted men; he abolished the army after being restored to power by the United States.

Whatever Mr. Aristide’s other merits or flaws, getting rid of the army counts as a signal achievement. For years, the army, in the absence of real external threats, had been primarily an instrument of repression and blood-curdling human rights abuses.

Mr. Martelly, a political novice who took office this year, has argued that a new Haitian army would bear no resemblance to the bad old one. He says a reconstituted force would be used mainly to respond to natural disasters and emergencies or to interdict contraband and drug transshipments.

It would be nice to believe that; it would also be naive. Mr. Martelly has extensive ties with right-wing groups, including allies of former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier, whose regime carried out atrocious abuses. With little support in parliament or from any organized political party, he finds himself perched perilously atop a political system that he has been unable to bend to his will. The temptation must be strong to follow the example of so many former Haitian leaders who found it convenient to fashion a band of loyalists into an armed force beholden to the president and hostile to his rivals — a far cry from what Haiti needs.

The start-up costs of establishing an army are estimated at $95 million — a huge sum in a country whose annual budget barely exceeds $1 billion. It’s not clear where the funds would come from; under no circumstances should the United States or other donor countries contribute.

That money could be put to much better use: fighting a cholera epidemic that has killed or sickened hundreds of thousands; removing rubble that still clogs entire neighborhoods; resettling thousands who remain without permanent homes; and rebuilding government ministries in the capital, Port-au-Prince.

Haiti does have a crime problem; its 8,400-man police force is inadequate in a country of 9 million. It makes more sense for Mr. Martelly to beef up and professionalize the police than to revive an institution so closely identified with the violence, terror and repression that have plagued Haiti for years.

This piece was written by a human being with intelligence and heart.Not by some robots programmed to copy what other countries have.It is really beyond my understanding that some so called educated haitians want the meager resources of the country be devoted to buy arms for a masscarade that they want to call an army.

I just saw on television a documentary narrated by Mr.Harry Belafonte in which they show the atrocities of the army toward the poor haitians during the overthrow of President Aristide.Looking at the killing of haitians by haitians convince me more that haiti doesn't need another repressive force right now.looking at the life of Mr. Bellafonte I feel ashamed of myself for not returning to haiti after I retired ten years ago., but I am wondering also if my presence would have made any difference.I am profoundly affected by the sufferings I have witnessed in Haiti during my youth .I am at the end of my life, from what I am seeing I am wondering If there will be a change in haiti without a revolt of those who are suffering these inhumane conditions.I am too pessimistic ,but really I feel completely discouraged by what is taking place in haiti right now; for who would think that after what happened in haiti between 1957 and 1986 today the duvalierists will be in charge of the country ounce again.It is unbelievable.

I think what needed in haiti after 1986 is what the dominicans and the Nicaraguayans have done:The deduvalierisation of the country.Unfortunately for the people our "leaders" were not capable to do what was necessary.

Agence France Presse


WASHINGTON, États-Unis - Reconstituer une armée en Haïti, comme le souhaite son président Michel Martelly, dans un pays où l'armée est «traditionnellement un instrument de la répression», est une «idée horrible», écrit le Washington Post dans un éditorial publié lundi.

«Le catalogue des besoins critiques d'Haïti est sans fin», écrit le Washington Post. «Mais s'il y a bien une chose qui ne fait pas partie des priorités d'Haïti, c'est de reconstituer une armée.»

Selon un document officiel que l'AFP a obtenu fin septembre, le président haïtien Michel Martelly envisage de recruter à partir du mois prochain les premiers 500 soldats d'une nouvelle force militaire dans le pays, dix-sept ans après la dissolution de l'armée.

Dans ce document intitulé «Politique de sécurité et de défense nationale», le président Martelly estime «qu'il devient urgent de compléter la Force publique en réactivant sa composante militaire».

«Pendant des années, en l'absence de menaces extérieures, l'armée a d'abord été un instrument sanguinaire dédié à la répression», écrit le Post qui estime que «M. Martelly entretient des relations approfondies avec des groupes très à droite, comme les alliés de l'ancien dictateur Jean-Claude Duvalier, dont le régime a commis des abus atroces».

La reconstruction de l'armée va coûter 95 millions de dollars à Haïti. Cet argent «pourrait être bien mieux utilisé» pour lutter contre le choléra qui a fait des milliers de morts ou pour revenir sur les conséquences dramatiques du séisme dévastateur de janvier 2010, note le Post.

Après des décennies de troubles politiques et des dizaines de coups d'état, Haïti a dissous son armée en 1995. Depuis 2004, s'est installée la mission de stabilisation de l'ONU, la Minustah, qui a été autorisée à désarmer les milices qui existaient encore.

Le Conseil de sécurité a ordonné récemment de retirer 2750 Casques bleus aux effectifs de la mission de l'ONU en Haïti (Minustah) pour les ramener à des niveaux plus proches de ceux d'avant le tremblement de terre de janvier 2010.


Agence France Presse

Canoe Ca

MARC;

Quand je parle de la différence entre les deux PRESSES ,FRANÇAISE et AMÉRICAINE .Ce n'est pas de la plaisanterie.

Dans l'éditorial ORIGINAL ,le WASHINGTON POST n'a pas ménagé ses compliments à ARISTIDE pour la démobilisation de l'ARMÉE:
""
WHATEVER MR ARISTIDE 'S OTHER MERITS OR FLAWS ,GETTING RID OF THE ARMY COUNTS AS A SIGNAL ACHIEVEMENT""

L'AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE n'a pas cité cette partie.

Et puis j'entendais les nouvelles sur la radio de MARCUS MELODIE FM ,qui certainement comprend l'ANGLAIS ;il a choisi de citer l'AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE.
Dans ma compréhension de la PRESSE HAITIENNE,je suis sur que RADIO KISKEYA ne parlera pas de cet EDITORIAL.