ARISTIDE SILENCED?

D DAY FOR DISNEY

It is Kerry Time. Suddenly, there was only one man left standing, sounding muscular and macho with new MO. A tough talking John Kerry swept Super Tuesday except in Vermont where the Deaniacs made their last stand. Edwards drops out today. Kerry repeated the Bush dictum, Bring it on. "Change is coming to America," he thundered. President Bush called him, to be appear nice. But the Massachusetts Senator reiterated his expectation that the GOP attack machine will soon be coming after him. You can bet on that.

Will Edwards get the nod for veep? Unclear. The larger question for Kerry now revolves around money, and how to raise more. There is a vast imbalance in funds between the two campaigns. Bush has $100+ million in cash ready to spend, reports ABC. Kerry has but $3 million. So what we are in for in the next few months is a full court press fundraising effort masquerading as a political campaign

WHAT NEXT?

CNN identified three main challenges: "They include setting up a process for choosing a running mate; settling on a Democratic convention team; and taking steps to assert control over the Democratic National Committee and lower the media profile of the group’s chairman Terry McAuliffe." Add to that Kerry’s need to keep in the media spotlight, which will be harder with no primaries or news events to generate coverage. Bush, in contrast, has the White House, his wars, and instant access to the tube. It’s called the power of incumbency.

Howard Dean thanked his fellow Vermonters saying: "I want to thank the great people of Vermont tonight who overwhelmingly endorsed our campaign for change. This win means so much to me. Two years ago, I entered this race to talk about health care, children, and to demand change and leadership in our Party. This Party and this country still needs change, and tonight you have helped further that process."

HELL IN HAITI

While some Americans reveled in the democracy, Haitians watched the thugs and leaders of the discredited Haitian Army move into power. There have been reports of shootings of Aristide supporters. Free Speech Radio carried an interview with a one of many prisoners who were on the verge of being shot. There is blood in the streets — with US and other soldiers doing little if anything to protect the people. So far, no concerns about human rights have been expressed in Washington or at the UN. Nothing is being done to stop retaliations there, although the US government has appealed to (ordered?) the self-styled rebels to lay down their arms. The victorious members of the former Haitian army say they will hunt down former Aristide supporters who they say are armed.

And what of the deposed Jean Bertrand Aristide? We don’t really know. His home in Haiti was trashed. "His" Presidential Palace is being occupied by US Marines. Ira Kurzban, the lawyer who represents Aristide says he had just learned that the Central African Republic (CAR) has shut off President Aristide’s phone service. He said that armed members of the French and CAR military are guarding President Aristide and he is not free to leave. There had been reports that he was planning to go to South Africa but that the South African government had closed its door on him. Not true, according to South Africa’s UN Ambassador as Democracy Now reports:

"South African ambassador to the United Nations, Dumisani Kumalo, says President Aristide did not request asylum or exile in South Africa, nor did the South African government deny him asylum or exile as alleged by the US State Department and the New York Times."

NEEDED BUT UNLIKELY: A FULL INVESTIGATION

While there are many conflicting reports and rumors dribbling out of Haiti and the Central African Republic, a full investigation is clearly needed and, according to the Washington Times, John Kerry is calling for one:

James G. Lakely and Tom Carter report:

"Democratic presidential front-runner John Kerry yesterday called for an investigation into statements by former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide that he was kidnapped at gunpoint and removed from power by US Troops over the weekend.

"’I think there ought to be some investigation of it,’the Democratic senator from Massachusetts said yesterday on NBC’s Today Show. ‘I have a very close friend in Massachusetts who talked directly to people who have made that allegation. I don’t know the truth of it. I really don’t. But I think it needs to be explored, and we need to know the truth of what happened.’

"White House spokesman Scott McClellan suggested that Mr. Kerry’s call for an inquiry was politically motivated and said it was irresponsible to give credence to the word of Mr. Aristide.

"’I think the absurd accusations that some have chosen to repeat do nothing to help the Haitian people, and they do nothing to help move forward during this difficult period,” Mr. McClellan said, adding, “I understand that [Mr. Kerry] is a political candidate running for office.’"

http://washingtontimes.com/national/20040302-115719-2739r.htm

JESSE’S MAN IN THE SADDLE

Yesterday, I critiqued a one-sided largely unchallenging TV interview with Assistant Secretary of State Roger Noriega on ABC’s Nightline. I was critical of what he said but I didn’t know who he was. I do now. Nightline, by the way, did not really explain Noriega’s importance:

Ron Howell Reports in Newsday:

"The departure of Haiti’s Jean-Bertrand Aristide is a victory for a Bush administration hard-liner who has been long dedicated to Aristide’s ouster, US Foreign policy analysts say. That official is Roger Noriega, assistant US Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere affairs, whose influence over US policy toward Haiti has increased during the past decade as he climbed the diplomatic ladder in Washington. “Roger Noriega has been dedicated to ousting Aristide for many, many years, and now he’s in a singularly powerful position to accomplish it,” Robert White, a former US ambassador to El Salvador and Paraguay, said last week. White, now president of the Center for International Policy, a think tank in Washington, said Noriega’s ascent largely has been attributed to his ties to North Carolina Republican Jesse Helms, an arch-conservative foe of Aristide who had behind-the-scenes influence over policy toward Latin America and the Caribbean before retiring from the Senate two years ago. “Helms didn’t just dislike Aristide, Helms loathed Aristide because he saw in Aristide another Castro,” said Larry Birns, director of the Washington-based Council on Hemispheric Affairs, which has been strongly critical of the Bush administration’s policy on Haiti.

"Working hand in hand with Noriega on Haiti has been National Security Council envoy Otto Reich, who, like Noriega, is ardently opposed to Cuban leader Fidel Castro, say analysts such as Birns. Washington diplomats have seen Aristide as a leftist who is often fierce in his denunciations of the business class and slow to make recommended changes such as privatizing state-run industries. “On a day-to-day basis, Roger Noriega [has been] making policy, but with a very strong role played by Otto Reich,” Birns said."

http://tinyurl.com/3ep3l

WORLD COMMENT

Hallward’s story goes into another unexamined angle in the US media: The role of the French. Aristide had been demanding that France compensate Haiti for wealth stolen when the country was first colonized. That did not play well in Paris.

"It’s obvious that Aristide’s expulsion offered Jacques Chirac a long-awaited chance to restore relations with an American administration he dared to oppose over the attack on Iraq. It’s even more obvious that the characterization of Aristide as yet another crazed idealist corrupted by absolute power sits perfectly with the political vision championed by George Bush, and that the Haitian leader’s downfall should open the door to a yet more ruthless exploitation of Latin American labor."

The Newark Star Ledger is one of the few newspapers that is closely following the 911 commission led by former New Jersey Governor Tom Kean, who declines to list his options should White House refuse to lift its limits.

Robert Cohen has the latest:

"The federal commission investigating 9/11 continues to reject the conditions President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have set for giving testimony, but panel members gave no indication yesterday how they would proceed if the White House did not change its position.

"The commission, meanwhile, obtained a commitment from House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) to bring up legislation as early as this week that will give the panel an extra two months, until July 26, to issue its final report on the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people. The Senate approved the time extension Friday.

"Following a commission meeting yesterday, its chairman, Thomas Kean, said the White House is insisting Bush and Cheney will submit only to closed- door interviews of one hour each. Kean also said they want to meet with only him and vice chairman Lee Hamilton, not all 10 members of the panel… Neither Bush and Cheney would be under oath, and much of their testimony might be classified and kept secret." …

http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/index.ssf?/base/news-13/107829912424100.xml

NRA LOSES ONE

Advocates of gun control say they won one last night in the Senate. The ‘Stop the NRA’ campaign reported what they called a huge victory, saying " By a vote of 52 to 47, the Senate passed a renewal of the Assault Weapons Ban. Senators also agreed, 53 to 46, to close the notorious ‘gun show loophole’ that made it possible for criminals to buy firearms at gun shows without background checks." (www.stopthenra.com)

D DAY FOR DISNEY

For Comcast background: http://www.democraticmedia.org/news/ComcastDisney.html