ORNA BLUM, public affairs officer in the United States Embassy in Kingston, has conceded in an interview published on this page, that in the conduct of international affairs friends do not always agree but must seek to work together and then move on to a perceived greater good.The point is well taken. However, few American administrations have attempted over the past three decades to coerce governments into falling in line with its world-view as has the present Bush administration. The postponement of two security-related meetings among U.S. representatives and CARICOM Security Ministers scheduled to take place in the Caribbean later this month to discuss security matters, provides a good example. Washington seems to be applying pressure to Caribbean governments in a not too subtle manner to recognise the Latortue Government in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
In the normal course of geo-politics, the U.S. can be expected to conduct its affairs in terms of what it sees as its best interests. Caribbean governments should be allowed the right to do the same even where this differs sharply from Washington's perspective.
The irony is that the Bush administration has sought to present itself as a champion of freedom and democracy, its principles undergirded by a sense of morality. Every so often, the leaves are blown away to reveal the camouflage.
Take, for example, the disgust expressed over the pictures of Iraqi prisoners of war being tortured and humiliated by American soldiers. United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he was 'deeply disturbed' by images in the media showing Iraqi detainees being mistreated and humiliated. He has asked the U.S.-led forces to prevent such abuses in the future. Amid widespread condemnation, President Bush has said that this is "not the American way".
While we are not so naive as to expect that in the conduct of war, Iraqi prisoners are going to be treated with special gentility, there are too many examples of the kind of torture first reported by the CBS network on April 28, to believe that the abuse shown was an aberration. In fact, in February a former U.S. Marine guard testified at the trial of several of his colleagues charged with abusing Iraqi prisoners that it was common practice in Iraq to kick and punch prisoners who didn't cooperate and even some who did.
The point is that in conduct of international affairs, it is one thing to make idealistic pronouncements, but it is another to thing to implement them. Differing points of view must be treated with respect especially by those with greater military and economic power. Bullying and strong-armed tactics may work in the short term. In the long run it is counter-productive.
The quagmire that Iraq is proving to be for Washington may yet be replicated in Haiti. For the sake of the Haitian people and the wider Caribbean, we would hope not.
