19178: Slavin: Bush Comments on Peacekeepers (NYT 1:17 PM) (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: PSlavin@unicefusa.org

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/25/international/americas/25CND-HAIT.html?hp


February 25, 2004

Bush Says Effort to Resolve Crisis in Haiti Continues
By CHRISTOPHER MARQUIS

WASHINGTON, Feb. 25 ? President Bush said today that his administration was
still pushing a diplomatic solution to the violent rebellion against the
government of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, even though leaders of the
Haitian opposition had rejected an American-drafted proposal for a
power-sharing arrangement.

"We still hope to be able to achieve a political settlement between the
current government and the rebels," Mr. Bush said during a White House
appearance with President Mikhail Saakashvili of Georgia.

President Bush said that Secretary of State Colin L. Powell had been in
touch with officials from Canada, France and Caribbean governments about
achieving "a peaceful solution" in Haiti.

While acknowledging that he was encouraging the international community to
prepare for a strong security presence in Haiti, Mr. Bush asserted that
international troops should only be sent to Haiti in connection with
diplomatic negotiations.

"Incident to a political settlement, we will encourage the international
community to provide a security presence," he said, though he did not
clarify whether a troop deployment would be possible in the event all
diplomatic efforts failed.

President Bush's comments came a day after Haiti's opposition leaders
rejected a plan that would have allowed them to share power with President
Aristide.

"There will be no more delays; our answer remains the same," Maurice
Lafortune, the president of the Haitian Chamber of Commerce, told The
Associated Press on Tuesday. "Aristide must resign."

The action surprised Bush administration officials, who had drafted the
power-sharing plan and seemed confident of their ability to deliver
opposition support. But they secured the agreement only of President
Aristide, whom they have accused of antidemocratic behavior.

The decision came despite lengthy debates and frequent phone calls from
American officials, capped by an appeal ? and a 24-hour extension ? from
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, via conference call. The plan would
have established a neutral government acceptable to all sides but would
have left Mr. Aristide in office until the end of his term in 2006.

Administration officials received the news shortly before a 5 p.m. deadline
on Tuesday. They said they were determined to let diplomacy run its course
and played down the possibility of sending in a multinational force. Canada
and France have offered to send police officers to Haiti, but only in the
context of a political settlement.

"People are still banking on not having to do that," one administration
official said. "There are a bunch of other options out there." But he did
not elaborate.

The State Department's point man for Haiti, Roger F. Noriega, faced sharp
questioning in a closed session on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, as several
senators accused the Bush administration of dithering in the face of a
growing crisis, Congressional officials said.

"I think the U.S. hands-off policy is abdicating its responsibility," said
Senator Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat, after the session. "We're dealing
with lives, here and now."

He and Bob Graham, Florida's other senator, also a Democrat, have warned
administration officials repeatedly of the potential for an exodus of
Haitian refugees to their shores.

Senator Mike DeWine, an Ohio Republican who has visited Haiti more than a
dozen times in recent years, expressed disappointment at the opposition's
rejection and said the United States should prepare to use force.

"If the situation continues to deteriorate, there's really no choice but to
put together a military force to go into Haiti to stabilize the situation,"
Mr. DeWine said. "We have 20,000 U.S. citizens living in Haiti. You have
the potential for a blood bath."

Administration officials were in contact on Tuesday with diplomats from
France and Canada, officials said. Dominique de Villepin, the French
foreign minister, has asked the European Union to approve funds for a
peacekeeping force for Haiti, diplomats said.

Richard A. Boucher, the State Department spokesman, countered criticism
that the administration had acted too casually on Haiti by saying the
United States had been "at the forefront" of diplomacy.

"The point is to try to separate the politics from the violence and to try
to move the political part of this forward in a way that we think can meet
the needs both of the government and the opposition forces to have a
meaningful role in government," he said.

But with the antigovernment uprising entering its third week and rebels
setting their sights on the capital, Port-au-Prince, lawmakers warned that
fighting could intensify.

Representative Kendrick B. Meek, a Florida Democrat, said the United States
should intervene immediately.

"The Bush administration has made it clear that it will wait until a number
of Haitians are face down in the streets, and in the waters around Haiti,
before they will act," he said.

Senator Christopher J. Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat with long experience in
the region, said a force of even 1,000 would be sufficient to bolster the
Haitian National Police and restore order.

"It is too late for diplomacy alone to turn the tide there," he said.

Mr. Graham said the administration had done very little to ward off a
possible flood of refugees.

"From what I can tell, there is no Plan B," Mr. Graham said in remarks on
the Senate floor on Tuesday. "There has been little or no contact between
federal agencies and state and local authorities ? our first responders ?
to prepare for the potential influx of refugees."

Mr. Graham noted that the Pentagon was "understandably hesitant" to send
Haitian refugees to its naval base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba; that is where
nearly 600 terrorist suspects from Afghanistan and elsewhere are being
held.

"If we wait for a political settlement, we will be tolerating more scores
of people being killed and more deaths due to the meager food supply and
lack of adequate health services," Mr. Graham said. "If we continue to wait
for a political solution, the country will be controlled by armed gangs,
drug dealers and thugs."

Human Rights Watch urged the international community to send a peacekeeping
force to Haiti to avert a violent wave of retaliation against supporters of
President Aristide in the capital.

"Given the horrendous human rights records of some of the leaders of the
armed rebellion, we are extremely concerned that the rebel forces will take
advantage of the opportunity to settle scores," said Joanne Mariner, deputy
director of the group's Americas Division.

The United Nations World Food Program, which lost a warehouse of food to
looters in Cap Haitien on Sunday, warned that if the security situation
continued to deteriorate, food shortages would be inevitable. The program
now provides 373,000 Haitians with food.

Kirk Semple contributed reporting from New York for this article.

Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company