Outside Intervention in Haiti Still Makes No Sense

The case for intervention remains shockingly weak.

The Biden administration has been planning to back a U.N. Security Council resolution that would authorize a multinational force in Haiti, and the Kenyan government has volunteered to send 1,000 police officers as part of the force. The New York Times reported this week on the proposed Kenyan-led force and why it seems unlikely to succeed:

But as Haiti’s security conditions spiral further out of control, manifested by a rise in killings around Port-au-Prince as heavily armed gangs try to quell a citizen-led vigilante movement, many in the country disparage the plan as too meager and too late. The criticism underscores deep-seated anxieties in Haiti over foreign interventions, as well as mistrust of Kenyan security forces over their record of human rights abuses and graft.

There have been calls in the U.S. and elsewhere for outside military intervention in Haiti ever since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse two years ago, but until now there have not been any governments willing to take a leading role in a stabilization force. The Kenyan government’s offer may be enough to get the ball rolling by encouraging other states to offer their own contributions, but everyone involved should pause and question whether an outside force can even work.