U.S. Marines turn police to keep Haiti peace

[seemslikeadream]

31 Mar 2004 14:49:53 GMT
U.S. Marines turn police to keep Haiti peace

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By Simon Gardner

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, March 31 (Reuters) - As ghostly silhouettes shuffle in the flickering light of a candle, heavily armed soldiers stop dead in their tracks in one of Haiti's most notorious slums.

M-16s at the ready, a patrol of U.S. Marines scans the ramshackle surroundings with night-vision lenses as an elderly man caked in filth emerges from the shadows.

"Someone tried to rob me. Him have a gun, a small gun," the old man said, gesturing at the labyrinthine streets wending their way into the La Saline slum in Port-au-Prince.

Potshots at a multinational force keeping an uneasy peace after a bloody rebellion have largely petered out. Troops now spend much of their time saving the Haitians from themselves.

"If you have any more problems with this man, you come to us and we'll protect you," the squad leader reassures the grateful man. The patrol moves on.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N31620473.htm

[Kagemusha]

1. Is there a greater indictment of Bush's 'no nation building' policy?

US Marines as cops. That's just *great*.... Marines are considered a bit better than regular soldiers for these things, but not because of behavior at checkpoints, rather, by better dealings with local people in general... and still, there's lots of shootings in Haiti as US troops 'protect themselves'.