Chris Dodd: “I come this afternoon to express my deep concern over the growing anarchy and lawlessness in Haiti. This ominous…”

“I come this afternoon to express my deep concern over the growing anarchy and lawlessness in Haiti. This ominous situation, only miles off our own shores, threatens to overwhelm the elected government of Haiti in a number of days, and unless our country, the United States, along with other members of the international community, acts to stop it, it will get worse and pose far many more serious problems for us. In my view, 3 years of neglected, mixed signals and inertia by the present administration--and the international community, for that matter--have brought a country already steeped in misery and poverty to the brink of uncontrollable violence and chaos. With respect to our own administration, which has sought to remake the political landscape of the Middle East, it is profoundly disturbing and unsettling that it seems incapable or unwilling to act to fortify a struggling democracy in our hemisphere. I will not defend every action of the Aristide government in Haiti. There have been major problems there. I accept that and understand that. But no one denies this government was duly elected by the people of Haiti and it is being threatened today by a group of thugs and rebels, many of them who come from the previous death squads and ousted armed forces members which ruled that country with a brutal hand, who make up the majority of the people holding the second and fourth largest cities in Haiti today.”