Safety in Numbers

Haiti is a small island in the Caribbean. It has a population of 8 million, few natural resources, very little industry since most of its baseball factories closed, considerable potential for tourism (given that at present it has no tourists at all), widespread poverty, and no exports apart from exiles. It has recently been described as a “failed state” by those who wish the U.S. to embark on building a Haitian nation. But this description is misleading, for it suggests that there was once a recognizable Haitian state that has since declined into failure. In fact, with the exception of the period when U.S. troops installed and presided over a liberal constitution, government there has been systematic banditry interlaced with anarchy. In the 200 glorious years of Haitian liberty, only 9 of 47 Haitian “leaders” have fulfilled their terms of office. Eleven were ousted by the army, nine were toppled by mobs, another half-dozen were disposed of by armed rebellions, two were killed by mobs, one died “in a palace explosion,” one died of a stroke during an armed revolt, one committed suicide, and one died “of an overdose of aphrodisiac.” (Haiti: A Basic Reference Book.) None of the rest ended well.

In the past few weeks anarchy has gained the upper hand, but that will probably be brought to an end by the U.N. approved international force—mainly American, French, and Canadian troops— that has just landed. The Congressional Black Caucus has been arguing that this force should return Haiti to the rule of systematic banditry in the person of former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide, now vacationing in the Central African Republic (another country with terrific potential for tourism). If they were to succeed, Aristide would be the first Marxist-Salesian-Bandit to be a revolving-door client of the U.S. He has already been restored to power once by the U.S., through the joint agency of Presidents Clinton and Carter. To impose him on them twice in a decade would suggest Americans harbored an unreasoning degree of hostility to Haitians; so, despite the CBC’s apparently instinctive sympathy for anti-American black kleptocrats, that is unlikely to happen. Aristide should probably prepare for a long stay and open a Haitian restaurant in Bangui.

About the Author

John O’Sullivan

John O’Sullivan is a senior fellow at National Review Institute and a contributing editor of National Review.

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Haiti is a small island in the Caribbean. It has a population of 8 million, few natural resources, very little industry since most of its baseball factories closed, considerable potential for tourism (given that at present it has no tourists at all), widespread poverty, and no exports apart from exiles. It has recently been described as a “failed state” by those who wish the U.S. to embark on building a Haitian nation. But this description is misleading, for it suggests that there was once a recognizable Haitian state that has since declined into failure. In fact, with the exception of the period when U.S. troops installed and presided over a liberal constitution, government there has been systematic banditry interlaced with anarchy. In the 200 glorious years of Haitian liberty, only 9 of 47 Haitian “leaders” have fulfilled their terms of office. Eleven were ousted by the army, nine were toppled by mobs, another half-dozen were disposed of by armed rebellions, two were killed by mobs, one died “in a palace explosion,” one died of a stroke during an armed revolt, one committed suicide, and one died “of an overdose of aphrodisiac.” (Haiti: A Basic Reference Book.) None of the rest ended well.

In the past few weeks anarchy has gained the upper hand, but that will probably be brought to an end by the U.N. approved international force—mainly American, French, and Canadian troops— that has just landed. The Congressional Black Caucus has been arguing that this force should return Haiti to the rule of systematic banditry in the person of former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide, now vacationing in the Central African Republic (another country with terrific potential for tourism). If they were to succeed, Aristide would be the first Marxist-Salesian-Bandit to be a revolving-door client of the U.S. He has already been restored to power once by the U.S., through the joint agency of Presidents Clinton and Carter. To impose him on them twice in a decade would suggest Americans harbored an unreasoning degree of hostility to Haitians; so, despite the CBC’s apparently instinctive sympathy for anti-American black kleptocrats, that is unlikely to happen. Aristide should probably prepare for a long stay and open a Haitian restaurant in Bangui.