European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 22, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse Thursday. September 22,. 1994 commentary the stars and stripes Page 17 Haiti Deal jives Clinton foreign icy fragile imprecise risky for All the second guesses president Clinton s Deal to depose Haiti s military rulers Short of War is a plus among his minuses in foreign policy. He won. It May be temporary and that will be told soon enough by the oct. 15 dead line for the military Bosses to yield Power for the return of Haiti s ousted elected president. There May yet be casualties de spite the agreement that averted a . At tack with Only 30 minutes to spare sunday night. Peacekeeping can be a deadly Busi Ness 36 Ameri cans were killed Walter Mears in Somalia where the final few marines were withdrawn last week just before the first . Forces went unopposed into Haiti.-. V a want to emphasize that the situation in Haiti remains difficult it Rehi Ains Uncertain the Mission still has risks Clin ton said monday As american forces landed for a military occupation he promised will be limited in time and scope. He did t say How limited and there soon will be pressure for that answer.",. There Are complaints that he s accepted a bargain too kind to the usurpers whom he accused of a reign of terror that they won t be compelled to go into exile for the return of president Jean Bertrand Aristide that human rights violators Are to get amnesty that there s a face saving delay before they have to re Linquish Power. Flaws perhaps. I Don t want it to be examined by lawyers who can spend weeks seeing what we did in just a few minutes said former president Carter the chief negotiator but the overwhelm ing Point is that All of our objectives were accomplished and it certainly is better than the alternative both for the forces who might otherwise have had to fight against snip ing or skirmishes and for the president. Clinton avoided an invasion for which he d gained scant support despite months of warnings . Backing and a nationally televised ultimatum last thurs Day night. Congress was divided. On sunday morning sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan d-n.y., said on network to that Clinton would be breaching his oath of office by ordering invasion an accusation As those chorused by republicans. Unfortunately not All the decisions that Are right can be popular Clinton said maintaining that he had t needed congressional approval for an invasion or for occupation. But he also said that any sustained Effort involving . Forces needs Public support Over the Long run. We have Learned that mostly in Good ways and sometimes in sad ways in our country s history he said obliquely re calling his own opposition to the War in Vietnam 25 years ago. The difference Between an inva Sion and the unopposed Landing was the difference Between bitter debate Over an Uncertain vote on his policy and a Resolution that backs the troops praises the negotiators and More guardedly the presi Dent and silently reserves judgment on a policy some republicans were calling a mistaken military occupation. After All congressional elections Are Only seven weeks away and the republicans Aren t about to give Clinton a mid Campaign endorsement. When party roles were reversed in the persian Gulf War the democrats had agreed to a Resolution supporting George Bush As com Mander in chief but walked at praising him As president. Clinton had said the haitian situation was a test of american credibility. It certainly was a test of his own. Carter helped him pass that exam with More to come beginning with the deadline for the end of military Rule. The head Man it. Gen. Raoul Cedras reneged on a Deal to yield by oct. 15, 1993, but there weren t 15,000 american troops in Haiti to make that happen. This time there will be none of it is based on Trust defense Secretary William Perry but there is no Lack of uncertainty. There will be difficult times ahead said retired . Army Gen Colin l. Powell former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff credited with a key role in bargaining with the haitian generals. There May Well be injuries and casual tics. We can t guarantee sen. Sam Nunn p-ga., the other negotiator said there is a Clear and continuing danger that haitian factions will Veng fully turn on one another. Those perils notwithstanding the first polling after the generals agreed to go showed a surge in approval of Clin ton s handling of Haiti from negative rat Ings to majority support. At a time when there s so much hand wringing in this country about everything being wrong said sen. Byron Morgan d-n.d., it appears the right thing occurred c Tho associated press unlike voters helped Barry to Triumph William Raspberry i was As surprised As anyone else at the margin of Marion Barry s Victory in his seemingly unstoppable drive to reclaim the mayoralty of the District of Columbia. I pretty much believed the polls. Of i thought Barry s strength might have been understated by three or four Points because a lot of his mid dle Glass Black supporters might have preferred to he to pollsters rather than be thought ignorant for backing a convicted drug abuser. But i believed that the former mayor and his chief rival City Council member at Large John Ray were running pretty much neck and neck for the democratic nomination and that the Washington Post s editorial endorsement of Ray might make the difference. As everybody knows by now Barry outdistanced Ray by a full 10 Points 4? percent to 37 percent Leav ing the incumbent Sharon Pratt Kelly in the dust at 13 percent. What happened a number of things of course including the widely held View that Kelly did t get it done during her four years in office and therefore did t deserve an other term and the equally prevalent View that Ray s principal asset was that he was t Marion Barry. I he Lack of passion for Kelly and Ray made the race essentially a contest Between people who adored Barry and those who either loathed him or found him an embarrassment. And Barry got his people out. He got put the secret supporters who i m told helped him financially even while declining to endorse him publicly. He got out the Church Folk who resonate to the notions of redemption and forgiveness. Most of All he got out the Community the Little people As they used to be called As door to door campaigners As Bill posters As tireless workers in whatever capacity. And on election Day he got his people to the polls. This was As Washington Post pollster Rich Morin put it an election by the unlikely the refer ence is to the attempts of opinion samplers to deter mine not merely which candidates voters prefer but also the probability that they la actually vote asking them whether they voted in the last election for in stance or if they know where their polling place is. By voting pattern by demographics by most of the usual criteria the people Many of them Lickly registered by Barry who swept Barry to Victory were unlikely but they voted and by doing so made Barry s Victory their own. That s less obvious than it might be. I be just finished talking to an out of state radio talk show Host who wants to know what message it sends to Young people he clearly meant Young Black people in the category we As at risk that washingtonians Are Well on the Way of restoring to the mayoralty a Man who s done time for doing Creek. The answer is that it sends them a message they hear All too Seldom that they matter. I Don t want to oversimplify Barry s Victory after All he carried not just the hard pressed Section East of the Anacostia River but also some of the More Alt Luent wards of the City _ but the people who put Barry overage the peo ple who normally Don t figure prominently in politicians plans being unlikely voters and having no Money to give. It s a mistake to see them As dupes conned by a smooth talking politician. They arc self interested people who voted for them selves. " they arc the people fast becoming a majority in this and other american cities who Are personally familiar with the criminal Justice system its cops its courts its probation and parole officers its jails and prisons or who Are close to someone who is familiar with it. They Are not shamed by Barry they Are redeemed by Barry and by their redemption of him. For Many of these voters Barry is less the comeback kid the Media see than the prodigal son who represents their own Hope. An important element of that Hope says the Rev. Jesse Jackson is that Barry never lost the appearance of strength even when he was begging for to Folk like me Middle class comfortable and sceptical of charismatic politicians it May appear that Barry got away with a big one. Got away with what As Jackson notes Barry got caught humiliated dethroned and and now to the Chagrin of those who were scandal by the behaviour that landed him in jail he appears to be Riding a juggernaut Back to Power. It mus be very Heady stuff for the people who put him there
