Haiti & Nation Building

Considering that 1) Haiti contains very limited natural resources and practically zero Arabs, 2) that so much of the US military is either in Iraq or Afghanistan, or recovering from being there, and 3) that the Clenis (TM) once engaged in nation building in Haiti, Dubya's reluctance to do little more than prevent refugees from washing onto Jeb's shores is understandable.

But can the Bush crew really sit back and let the dastardly French tell us what needs to happen in our backyard?  Or worse, watch as the Frogs lead the UN in an armed intervention to restore order?
 

Will the silver-tongued Foreign Minister Villepin shame the Bush administration into the sort of nation building that the neocon's sneer at--that which doesn't first involve nation razing?

If the Bush crew weren't so ideologically intransigent, they might see this for what it is: a ripe opportunity to restore a modicum of credibility to the notion of the US as a benign force in the world.  From all accounts, the rebel force is a ragtag group of a few hundred.  They're only a serious threat to Aristide because the "little priest" disbanded the Army about 10 years ago.  If Bush sent 500 Marines rather than just 50 (or if the UN sent the equivalent number of blue helmets), the rebels would quickly throw down their weapons and join talks on the next step after Aristide steps down.

My personal perspective on Haiti's history & a related Daily News Online commentary.