Response to Senator Dodd: The Haitian People Deserve Sovereignty

Haitians no longer believe that their government could do what needs to be done to save their country. Said one man: ''When we tell the government we're hungry, the government says, 'We're hungry, too.' ''

Sadly, they may be right.

I do not believe, of course, that we should occupy Haiti. We should not take lightly the importance of sovereignty, not discount the Haitian people's long history of enduring difficult times. But we cannot pretend that Haiti can lead its own reconstruction.

Fortunately, there is precedent for situations in which the international community must intervene to ensure that a troubled country can look forward to a brighter future.

Chapter XII of the United Nations Charter established the International Trusteeship System for the supervision of territories placed under U.N. control by agreement of the territories themselves as well as the states administering them.

The idea was not to bring about hostile takeovers of failed states, but rather to provide administrative support for countries emerging from the geopolitical reshuffling after World War II -- until those countries could stand on their own two feet.

The Trusteeship System was, by all accounts, successful. And even after the program became obsolete, a form of trusteeship was used in Bosnia, Kosovo, East Timor, and Cambodia -- places where the collapse of order necessitated help from the international community to perform the basic functions of a government.

Haiti -- an independent sovereign nation and a United Nations member -- would not be eligible for trusteeship. But, as in those other cases, the U.N. mission can be broadened to coordinate the various international actors currently working in Haiti.

Instead of the ad-hoc system currently in place -- the United States controls the airport, the United Nations controls food distribution, and other responsibilities are divided in a scattershot fashion -- a form of trusteeship would allow the UN to coordinate assistance in an orderly and transparent fashion.

Other international actors could then be tasked with specific roles -- ranging from security and governance to economic development and the coordination of international aid.

The goal is simple: Provide Haitians with a legitimate, functional state -- one capable of managing the day-to-day tasks of government and providing security, economic stability, and social services.

This won't work without the Haitian people and their elected leaders -- it must be done with them, not to them.

Indeed, Haitian authorities have repeatedly asked the United States and the international community to provide this help, and we must answer their call in a way that allows Haiti to get back on its feet and regain control over its future.

The task of rebuilding Haiti will fall on the international community -- that much is clear. And I believe we can do it most effectively if we have a coordinated strategy for our efforts.

Intervention on this scale might not be pleasant to consider, but it is what the Haitian people want -- and, more importantly, it is what Haiti needs to emerge from this latest tragedy and build a new future.

Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., is chairman of the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.