Needed neutrality

The (relatively) good news is that the need for added security in Haiti hasn't yet been completely forgotten, as the UN is planning to step up its security presence. The bad news, though, is that any such increase seems all too likely to follow the pattern of blaming only one side of the existing gang wars:

The peacekeepers were dispatched to Haiti to help restore order following the 2004 revolt that toppled then-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, now exiled in South Africa.

U.N. officials have said the latest crime wave may be an attempt to destabilize the country and pressure Preval into allowing Aristide to return. Preval has said he does not believe the violence is politically motivated.

Preval's statement may be on the simplistic side given the interrelationship between political rivalries and the gang wars. But it's certainly closer to the truth than the apparent UN assumption that any violence must be linked to Aristide supporters alone when the battle has always been bloody on all sides.

While plenty of damage has been done to Haiti's attempts at democracy, it's not too late for the world to start improving matters. But as long as international involvement continues to be based on blaming Aristide and his supporters rather than ensuring that Haitians can be secure from both sides of the gang conflict (as well as from abuses by the security forces themselves), no number of added troops can really make Haiti more stable in the long run.