A Question of Duty: How an Officer Destroyed His Career by Trying to Liberate Haitian Prisoners

When Capt. Lawrence Rockwood of the 10th Mountain Division arrived in Haiti in September 1994 along with 20,000 other American troops, he thought his mission was to keep atrocities from happening. An idealist, Rockwood liked to quote Gen. Douglas MacArthur: "The protection of the weak and unarmed is the very essence and reason for [a soldier's] being." Very noble and romantic, but Rockwood's commander, Gen. David Meade, had a different notion of this particular mission. Meade was in charge of the "intervasion" force that had been allowed into Haiti to oversee the peaceful transfer of power from Haitian strongman Raoul Cedras to democratically elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Meade's first priority was protecting his own troops. The Army commander was following orders: "force protection"--avoiding casualties--has become the mantra of the Pentagon brass uncomfortable with the Army's new peacekeeping role. But it meant that U.S. …

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Publication information: Article title: A Question of Duty: How an Officer Destroyed His Career by Trying to Liberate Haitian Prisoners. Contributors: Not available. Magazine title: Newsweek. Volume: 134. Issue: 21 Publication date: November 22, 1999. Page number: 52. © 2009 Newsweek, Inc. All rights reserved. Any reuse, distribution or alteration without express written permission of Newsweek is prohibited. For permission: www.newsweek.com. COPYRIGHT 1999 Gale Group.

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