It was announced yesterday that US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld wants to end the Army’s participation in Operation OPBAT, which not only protects the shores of the Bahamas from smugglers of drugs and humans, but reduces the drug supply into Florida.
The programme, which was started in 1882 and includes the US, Bahamas and Turks Island, was supported by seven of the Army’s Blackhawk helicopters and, of course, the Army’s crew that goes with them. Mr Rumsfeld says they are needed for more important duties elsewhere – particularly in the war against terrorism. He has urged the US government to find another agency to step in and fill the void.
It is only natural that the US Embassy in Nassau would like to maintain OPBAT’s high level of efficiency.
“Obviously the army is very capable and has a tremendous record of reliability and capability so it would be our preference that the army continue to do that mission,” Dr Brent Hardt, Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in the Bahamas, told The Tribune. “At this point, our support for OPBAT is firm and strong and we don’t anticipate a cut back in OPBAT’s capability to ensure the effectiveness of the mission here.”
Dr Hardt also said that US Ambassador John Rood is fully committed to OPBAT. “In fact,” said Dr Hardt, “he is going to Washington later this month to reinforce the importance of OPBAT.”
Of course, the Bahamas’ vote on May 9 for Cuba to be a member of the UN Human Rights Council, obviously does not sit well with the United States. As Ambassador Rood said in a letter to the press on May 22: “If the United Nations is to be relevant and effective in promoting universal human rights, its member nations must have the courage to promote their own values, as reflected in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”
The Ambassador said he knew that the “people of the Bahamas hold these rights dear, just as we in the United States do.” If this is true, then when one reads the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and relates it to Cuba’s track record on human rights, it is obvious that the Bahamas’ courage failed when it came time to promote its own values on May 9.
It is also understood that the US was miffed by Foreign Affairs Mitchell’s statement to the House of Assembly on May 17 when, in explaining why this country supported Cuba, he said:
“No other country, unsolicited, has offered the level of assistance to this country (the Bahamas), assistance that is not of direct benefit to the country offering the assistance.” Mr Mitchell was speaking of Cuba.
This was a slap in the face to the United States, a country that has so faithfully supported, encouraged and promoted the interests of the Bahamas for so many years. Not only are American tax dollars used to carry out the many programmes organised for the benefit of Bahamians, but also the generosity of private organisations to this country has no parallel.
And so these acts and words are the monkeys that the Ambassador will have on his back when he goes to bat for the OPBAT mission in Washington. What our government ministers have said and done can only make his efforts more difficult.
Editorial, The Tribune
