In General Terms. posted by Richard Seymour

The Guardian ran an article yesterday written by Charles Arthur on the situation in Haiti. The article drew some attention from those who watch Haiti, particularly because it contained a glaring and apparently malicious inaccuracy. It referred to the deposed Aristide as a "General" when he has never been a general and fought all his life against the Haitian army.

Well, apparently word got to him, because the author has reacted with fury. The word "General" is not his, but was apparently added by sub-editors. Further, several passages were chopped from the original article. He has written to John Vidal of The Guardian who apparently solicited the piece:

Dear John,
Re: yesterday's 'Squalid excuses' article on Haiti

I can live with the fact that the two paragraphs about the peasants' own proposals to solve the rural sector's problems were deleted. Even though this part was, for me, crucial because I do not believe Haiti's problems will be solved merely by a better allocation of international aid, I understand that the sub-editor was under instructions to cut the text, and the importance of the existence of a grassroots response escaped him/her.

But I cannot forgive the decision to insert the description 'General' in front of the name, Aristide. He was not a general, was never in the Army, and in fact spent most of his career struggling against the Army which has done so
much to impede democracy in Haiti. In 1995 he even demobilised the entire Army!

This ridiculous titling of Aristide as a 'General' makes me look like a fool!

Please admonish the sub-editor and print a prominent correction.

Thank you,

Charles Arthur