Waters Contradicts Col. Wilkerson on U.S. Role in Haiti: "It Was a Coup D'Etat"

Tuesday on Democracy Now! we interviewed Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, he served as chief of staff to then-Secretary of State Colin Powell from 2002 to 2005. In an hour-long conversation we discussed the invasion of Iraq, pre-war intelligence and much more. We also talked about Haiti.

During his time as Powell's Number Two man in the State Department, the democratically elected president of Haiti, Jean Bertrand Aristide was ousted. On February 29, 2004, Aristide was flown out of Haiti on a US government plane to the Central African Republic.

I asked Colonel Wilkerson to describe what happened the day Aristide was forced out of the country.

* Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, interviewed on Democracy Now!, November 22, 2005.

In the interview, Wilkerson defends the U.S. role in Haiti during Aristide's overthrow and says Aristide's "will to power is excessive, even obsessive." We speak with two guests:

* Rep. Maxine Waters, Democratic Congresswoman from California. She was part of the delegation of US and Jamaican lawmakers that flew to the Central African Republican in March 2004 to return President Aristide to the Carribbean.
* Brian Concannon, director of the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti.

LISTEN ONLINE:
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/11/23/152229