Another US-sponsored bloodbath?

The Miami Herald reports:

"By refusing President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's pleas for international help, the Bush administration has made it clear it is siding with a group of rebels, a point reiterated by Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry.

''This administration has been engaged in very manipulative and wrongful ways,'' Kerry said. ``They have a theological and an ideological hatred for Aristide. They always have. They approached this so the insurgents were empowered by this administration.''

And who are those insurgents? Their leaders have a history of human-rights violations and alleged ties to drug traffickers. One senior Washington official told The Herald recently that if the rebels take control, there is a genuine fear Haiti will be turned into a ``narco-state.''

And yet we do nothing. [not quite - see the story below: Gandhi]

Actually, I'm mistaken. We are doing something. We are picking up Haitians at sea and returning them to Port-au-Prince, a city in the midst of untold violence and mayhem.

Perhaps someday we'll find out how many of the 867 Haitians we repatriated last week will be killed when the rebels enter the city and slaughter Aristide supporters.

''I think it will be a bloodbath,'' said Ira Kurzban, the Miami attorney who represents the government of Haiti.

Kurzban says Aristide is intent on staying in the country because he is afraid that if he flees, no one will protect his supporters against retribution by the rebels. According to Kurzban, Aristide believes that if he were to resign, within a month or two of his departure, the international community would lose interest in Haiti, as will the foreign press, and the killings will begin.

''All the people that supported him will be dead in three months,'' Kurzban said. ``Aristide knows that. That's what happened after the last coup. That's why he's not going anywhere.''

Kurzban believes forcing Aristide from office is exactly what the United States wants. ''This is all about bringing back the old alliances, bringing back the old guard,'' he said. ``This is a marriage between the elite and former members of the Haitian military. The United States is more comfortable dealing with them than they are with Aristide.''

Eventually, Kurzban said, people will start asking the right questions, such as:

Where are the rebels getting their guns and money? Is it simply a coincidence that the United States recently sold the Dominican Republic 20,000 M-16s and that rebels are now toting M-16s and rocket-propelled grenade launchers? Where did those weapons come from?

The rebel leaders were inside the Dominican Republic for months before crossing the border and seizing the northern part of Haiti. And yet the Dominican government did nothing about these men who were wanted in Haiti. Apparently, the Dominican Republic had the same hands-off policy as the United States."

Gandhi: Lets's see who ends up in control of this country... Maybe Halliburton will be contracted for relief operations?