By Sean Douglas, Newsday TT

AS Haiti falls to armed thugs, United States President George W Bush glibly talks up a "political settlement" which fails to face reality, commented Emancipation Support Committee (ESC) chairman, Khafra Kambon. Kambon spoke to Newsday yesterday, after Bush in a televised speech claimed he was seeking a political solution to the virtual civil war which has almost reached the capital, Port-Au-Prince. He urged Caricom to pressure the United Nations to immediately intervene militarily. Kambon noted that the rebels were better equipped with weaponry and vehicles than the Government of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Moreso they were also better trained being a mixture of former soldiers and thugs, led by infamous characters. Kambon foresaw: "There is very little likelihood that Aristide's supporters can hold out against the well-armed force coming against them."

He saw the armed overthrow of Aristide as almost certain. "It will lead to massacres and civil war." He recalled that when the rebels had taken Haiti's second-city, Cap-Haiten, they had openly said they were searching for Aristide supporters. "They went into people's homes to kill them." Kambon accused the United States and Europe of forestalling any action that could ward off this take-over by the rebels. He dismissed Bush's statement yesterday that he wanted a "political settlement" and "political solution." Hitting Bush's remark, Kambon said: "It's totally unreal. It has no relation to what's happening on the ground. How can you have a political solution when there's a military takeover in progress? What nonsense!" He said the Opposition had long said it would engage in no negotiations unless Aristide goes.

Kambon observed: "Whatever you think about Aristide, if you want to support any development of Haiti, you would not support something as backward as this uprising. It is disaster on top of disaster for Haiti." He said Hait was being taken over by known criminals in association with known crooks from the business community. He said the United States had long supported the forces against Aristide, even pouring in US$100 million per year into a so-called "Democracy Fund" to support Opposition groups and anti-government radio stations. Aristide meanwhile, Kambon said, had granted concession after concession to the Opposition. This included dismissing eight of his own Senators, giving the Opposition most places on the national Electoral Council, and agreeing to hold new general elections. Given the imminent battle for Port-Au-Prince, Kambon urged that United Nations' troops should quell the uprising, jail the rebels, be a peace-keeping force, and train the forces of the Haitian Government.

He implored: "Caricom ought to be feverishly mobilising the support of the United Nations Security Council members for an immediate emergency meeting for the immediate sending of a peacekeeping force to Haiti." Bush yesterday said: "We still hope to be able to achieve a political settlement between the current government and the rebels.'' From the White House he added: "We will turn back any refugee that attempts to reach our shore and we strongly encourage the Haitian people to stay home while a political solution is found."