If only Haiti had oil, President Jean-Bertrand Aristide would have enjoyed the support of the international Left. After all, there is no practical reason America should care about that country, except the prospect of Haitian refugees flooding into Florida.
By contrast, the Left's reaction to the Iraq war was nothing short of hysterical: to them, it was, is, and ever shall be about oil, and oil alone. The U.S. imports oil, some of that oil is from the Middle East, and therefore there can be no honorable reason for military action anywhere in the region. The idea that there were legitimate security and humanitarian reasons is irrelevant. But invading the poorest country in the hemisphere to stabilize the government? That's perfectly fine.
For the Left, America is only virtuous if it acts when it has absolutely nothing at stake. For too many people on the Right, the U.S. should never act militarily unless vital national interests are at stake.
I disagree with both groups. Generally, we should be reluctant to take action unless some entity threatens our security, but we have a duty -- a God-given duty, in my view -- to intervene in certain dire circumstances. Anarchy, genocide, and mass starvation are three of those circumstances, and Haiti was headed for the first of them. We aren't, and shouldn't be, the world's policeman, but we are the strongest country on Earth and that strength should benefit humanity at large.
UPDATE: It's official! The Democrats say that not only do we not need a U.N. mandate to deploy combat troops, it's George Bush's fault for not acting pre-emptively to stop Haitians from hurting each other! Nevermind that the "international community" has been pressuring Aristide for the last four years, including depriving that country of aid money.
For the future, here's what you need to remember:
1. Bush goes against the consensus of the "international community" and France: BAD BAD BAD.
2. Bush pursues a policy reflecting the consensus of the "international community" and France: BAD BAD BAD. Even when it's a policy carried over from your predecessor.
The Left is not a serious moral force in the world any more. What's more, increasingly you can't even argue with them because they aren't operating rationally.
Let's also note, Eric, that the fall of Aristide brings to its end the last liberation-theology regime. I especially remember Aristide for one exhortation he gave to his supporters: "We have our matches and our Pere LeBruns (tires)..." Those mobs occasionally did put a gasoline-soaked tire around the neck of an Aristide opponent, and they were indeed inflammable. No wonder so many American priests, those useful idiots, those suckers for leftist sloganeering, defended him for years.
Regarding the idiotic "Iraq was about oil" argument:
I was exchanging messages online with an old school buddy whose quite a leftist. He argued that Bush invaded Iraq for the oil. When I argued that we weren't taking Iraq's oil, he said that it proves how stupid Bush is since he can't even succeed in stealing Iraq's oil when he sets out to do it. Sheesh.
"whose" in the first line of my comment should be "who's"
You're right, Richard -- liberation theology didn't liberate too many people from poverty, but it did prevent the formation of social conditions that reduce poverty (property rights, enforceable contracts, etc.)
Coward, that reminds me of the paranoiacs who say that the lack of evidence that a conspiracy exists is itself proof of a conspiracy -- because only a conspiracy could conceal its tracks so effectively.
I suppose I don't mind our intervention. I'd rather the Marines simply be used to secure our interests in country and to evacuate US citizens and permanent residents who happen to be in Haiti.
But so long as we don't get drawn into babysitting the country and putting in some corrupt despot.
Haiti's real problem stems from spiritual roots, however. In addition to US troops on the ground, what we really need to provide are our prayers AND missionaries of the true unadultered Gospel of Jesus Christ to win over hearts and souls and rescue them from the satanic snare of voodoo, which holds a tight grasp upon that society.
Again Bush had to go in to clean up a Clinton Mess. Who helped install Aristide? I remember ole Jimmy Carter being the one negotiating the last mess.
I don't know about other troops, but the Marines who are there won't be there for long. They're part of a Marine Expeditionary Unit, which is designed to go in and out quickly. One of their missions is to do short-term stabilization, then turn things over to someone else.
Agreed that the problem is primarily spiritual -- voodoo is based on the idea that the universe is capricious and irrational, ruled by spirit-powers and the like. The Catholic Church has been there for hundreds of years, and though the majority of the population is Catholic, it's a hard habit to break.