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There is one fly in this ointment with both moral and political ramifications. First off, let me state that I do not like this police and was involved in enforcing if for many years. That said:

If the administration over turned current policy for Cubans would it have a moral obligation to do the same thing for Haitians? I believe it would myself, but that is only because I've seen the conditions in Haiti and the looks on the faces of those who we returned.

If Haitians were not given the same consideration then the President's many detractors would scream foul and how much more politically costly would it be nationally? If he gave Haitians the same consideration? Then you know this would cause an even greater uproar amongst certain elements who only grudingly vote Republican.

Oddly enough, candidate Clinton did promise to reverse this police and allow Haitians in. Despite Coast Guard warnings, President Clinton didn't and many thousands of Haitians set sail for freedom. Many died when their overloaded boats over turned (we often found wreckage and parts of bodies). The lucky ones were interdicted and taken back to Haiti were many were summarily executed, out of sight of course, by thugs. Of Course President Clinton was never taken to task for this.

This is a very difficult issue...I wish I had the answer.

"If the administration over turned current policy for Cubans would it have a moral obligation to do the same thing for Haitians?"

I grow tired of the comparison between Cubans and Haitians, so let's settle this once and for all.

If you claim that we have a moral obligation to treat them the same, then what you are saying is that we need to invade Cuba (like we invaded Haiti), overthrow the despot running the country (like we overthrew Duvalier), and set up free elections (like we did in Haiti).

The current policy in place, is an agreement between Clinton and Castro, and I don't elevate agreements with despots to the level of US policy...do you?

The prevailing law is the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966...it's the law. This law is being violated by a Bill Clinton Executive Order, I (along with most conservatives) consider EO's to be unconstitutional...what do you think?

Haitians and Cubans have not been treated equally, so either send in the Marines and knock off Fidel, or overturn "wet foot, dry foot", and adhere to the constitutionally enacted law.

"This is a very difficult issue..."

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I agree. There is no easy answer. But we can address them one at a time. What puts the Cubans into a different category, is that we had a long standing policy towards them, which Clinton changed in a cruel way.

A lot of people from a lot of countries all want to come to the US, because they want freedom, democracy and capitalism. Of course we can't take them all in. But I think if Bush will get a second term, he will make great strides towards helping more countries to become free and democratic.