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03/17/2004 Archived Entry: ""... they've received only bullets ...""

"THE MARINES HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR GUNS, but they've received only bullets."

So says NPR this morning in the gun-rights media quote of the year. The report is about U.S. Marines and other "international troops" in Haiti, going house-to-house, attempting selective disarmament of the poorest Haitians (who are the exiled Aristide's biggest supporters).

I've always felt a little cynical about the famous sig line, "They can have my guns -- bullets first." But apparently when people get desperate enough, and when the threat to confiscate their weapons by force is real, they mean it. Haitians have been shooting at would-be firearms confiscators from rooftops.

What the hell are U.S. Marines doing, trying to disarm Haitians? I don't take any side in the latest Dire Crisis of the Week in Haiti. I don't understand why the U.S. gov should take any side, either. No matter what side you take, there's no winning in that mismanaged hellhole of a country. If Haitians can't figure out how to govern themselves -- and after 200 years of almost constant chaos or dictatorship, there's no evidence they seriously intend to -- the U.S. or the U.N. sure's heck can't do it for them. But if house-to-house firearm confiscation is (as some have suggested) a practice run for future U.S. operations, I'm glad to see it'll take a lot more practice before they figure out how to disarm entire communities.

(If the above link doesn't work for you, try going here and scrolling down to the story, "Tenuous calm returning to Haiti.")

Posted by Claire @ 10:59 AM CST
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