Former President George Bush said Monday it is time for the United States to start over and make "a significant shift in U.S. policy toward Haiti," including abandoning support for the return to power of ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
Bush said, however, he thinks it would be "a tremendous mistake" to use U.S. ground forces in Haiti and said he believes such an option should be ruled out.His comments follow reports that the Clinton administration is considering employing force to achieve a long-frustrated goal of ending the military regime in the Caribbean nation.
"We can easily put our forces in, but when would they come home?" the former president asked. "I certainly could not support the use of U.S. troops under existing conditions in Haiti. No U.S. lives are at risk in Haiti today."
Bush also expressed concern about how the rest of the Caribbean and South America would react to the deployment of U.S. troops to Haiti, saying, "I believe most of our friends in this hemisphere would strongly disapprove of our using U.S. troops."
Bush contended that we "we suffered an enormous black eye to our prestige around the world when, a few months ago, our ship was turned back by a group of thugs on the dock at Port-au-Prince." But he was careful in discussing the handling of U.S. policy by the man who had defeated him for the presidency.
"No one in the area can doubt President Clinton's support of democracy," Bush said. "Nor can they doubt his strong backing, up to now, of Father Aristide."
"But," he said, "Aristide has proved to be totally unable to help facilitate his own return. He has been unwilling to compromise, and, in attacking President Clinton's policy, he is attacking those who have been trying hard to help him."
Bush acknowledged that he is calling for a change in a policy he once embraced.
"As president, I felt that the way to support democracy in Haiti was to insist on the return of Aristide to power. Given recent events and Aristide's demonstrated instability, the time has come to break that linkage."