European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 2, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Invasion of Haiti would i $ i 4 m Cal Thomas vice president a1 Gore was asked a direct question about  administration a foreign policy objectives on the lbs program face the nation. Would he define the Quot Clinton doctrine Gores response was that we have to see things in a a historical  he said we live in a period of Quot unusual  no longer is the world divided into two Camps Quot one red and one  what we have now is a Quot complicated  this is what the administration Calls a Quot doctrine for the vice president to complain about How a comp Lex the world is communicates weakness and indecisiveness. The american people expect their leaders to address problems not whine about their difficulty. Perhaps if president Clinton and Gore had not so. Ken with such certainty during the Campaign about Bosnia and Haiti and other trouble spots they might not now be faulted for their impaired vision. Take Haiti which the administration keeps threatening to do. An invasion of the Island would be a Foolhardy adventure. Haiti is not a threat to the United states and an invasion would serve no strategic objective. An invasion could revive charges of colonialism and anti american hatred. Politically and militarily an invasion of Haiti would be a disaster. President Clinton does not have the political support even in his own party for sending troops to Haiti to reinstall Jean Bertrand ans tide As president. In fact Aristides own support has dwindled significantly since his election. An invasion if successful would require an american presence for years to come and would inflame anti american passions by the occupied for the occupiers. A guerrilla movement could develop causing headaches for who knows How Long. President Clinton a avoidance draft and his past criticism of the military Means he would be Cut very Little Slack should a combat operation produce More than a handful of casualties. Coming near the a Day anniversary a disastrous military adventure in Haiti could finish off what a left of the presidents tenuous approval ratings now a very soft 50 percent or less depending on what Day it is. The canadians French and venezuelans have All refused to become involved in a military operation in Haiti. President Clinton should listen to their reasons. He should also lift the embargo not tighten it As he did last month. Dictatorships done to care that people Are doing with less. If they cared they i  be dictators. What is needed is a fresh approach to Haiti. Forget Aristide. American policy toward Haiti should not be linked to him. Even if we were successful in Muslin. Aristide Back into the presidential pal Ace he is not a Democrat and he is unlikely to survive without an american presence. The heritage foundation suggests that Gen. Colin Powell be named toned a bipartisan presidential fact finding commission on Haiti. Such a commission would go to Haiti and propose policy recommendations which would then have the credibility of having been drafted by both republicans and democrats. Topping their list should be a lifting of the embargo. It is in americans interests not to further impoverish the haitian people and encourage even More refugees to flee their country and head for Miami. A / helping haitians Prosper there is the Best Way to reduce the number of them coming Here. This is a beginning. Its far better than what the administration has been doing. The president might just As Well acquire some voodoo dolls in the likeness of the haitian military Leader it. Gen Raoul Cedras and stick pins in them rather than launch an invasion of Haiti. A a a. Voodoo has As much Chance of succeeding As the presidents a voodoo foreign  a _ c los Angoli times Linton vision of Community lost in Medio blur was it John f. Kennedy so ask not what your country can do for you speech that launched the unprecedented Era of personal involvement in social change still fondly remembered by an entire generation was there something Peculiar about the times that made possible an unprecedented series of opportunities for personal involvement a the peace corps the teacher corps volunteers in service to America what prompts the questions is the Effort of president Clinton to ignite a similar explosion of can do optimism to combat the problems that government alone cannot solve. In several recent speeches he has sounded the Call for americans to take personal responsibility for rebuilding both Community and their communities at an Indianapolis groundbreaking for a Monument to Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King jr., at a Legal defense fund dinner to Mark the 40th anniversary of the supreme courts school desegregation ruling at a commencement address at Gallaudet University in Washington and at the University of California los  sounded it again at an Oval office session the other Day with four newspaper columnists. The test of his presidency he told us will not be just the programs he is Able to get through Congress but his ability to get the american people to a wipe away enough of their cynicism to tackle problems at the Community level. A a Quot we somehow have to do both a he said. Even the most successful of government programs a including health care and welfare Reform crime legislation and Job creation a wont be enough if individuals fail to get involved he  a if the government lakes a dive and acts As it it s All just up to the folks and they re on their own we defy the Plain lesson of head Start. I think one of the reasons that head Start has been so incredibly popular is that its not a bureaucratic government program. Its a program that empowers people to take care of themselves to seize control of their own  to hear Clinton speak with such obvious feeling is to be taken Back to his Campaign exhortations for americans to a work in their communities to end the Long years of denial and neglect and divisiveness and blame a to give the american people their country Back a it is Clinton at his Best for those privileged to hear him. But for journalists a particularly of the hard news variety most Likely to have Access to a president a it is also Clinton at his most a reportable. There a no a a Lead in these philosophical ruminations no matter How revealing they May be of the Workings of his mind there a no proposal to Bounce off the opposition no program to Cost out no votes to count. And because such talk does no to make a a news in the ways we have come to judge news we sometimes behave As though the speaker did no to say anything at All. Donald Brown executive editor of the Tuscaloosa Ala news gave an example recently in an account of a Clinton speech to a gathering of newspaper editors. He stressed his Community Theille talked about the requirements of both private and govern Merit a 1 action and called on the editors to do their part a by Galvaniz ing and organizing people All Over this country Community by Community. Quot not a barn Burner a Brown said in his column a shut a solid  but the a and a period that followed included a single Exchange on Whitewater one that broke no new ground whatever. A but that Exchange became the whole Story on William Raspberry television that night and in the next mornings newspapers a Brown said. Quot there was virtually no reference to the Content of the speech As if it had no relevance or to the other  Many of us reacted that Wasny to the same speech i  it i find it a Little scary. The need for restoring Community strikes me As self evident and clearly the president can move us in that direction. But Only if his Call for Community becomes a consistent theme. When we in the news business dismiss the theme As not Worth reporting because we be heard it before or because it involves no conflict no politics a can the idea itself survive i done to know. No Public figure can Hope to have his Stream of consciousness musings displace Quot real news a including his personal and political troubles. But in be shared Donald Browne a astonishment often enough to understand Why Public figures keep looking for ways to deliver their messages without the a help of journalists. A c wait my on Post the opinions expressed in the columns and cartoons on this Page represent those of the authors and Art in _ no Way to be considered As representing the views of the stars and stripes or the United states government