20088: (Chamberlain) US-Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By JOHN J. LUMPKIN

   WASHINGTON, March 8 (AP) -- The Marines' first use of deadly force in
Haiti underscored fears that violence and rampant crime would continue in
the country despite the American military presence, complicating the
peacekeeping operation.
   As of Monday, more than 1,600 U.S. troops were in Haiti, defense
officials said, among them about 1,500 Marines, and the peacekeepers
include a force from the French Foreign Legion.
   To Phillip McLean, who was in the State Department's operations center
in 1994 when U.S. troops landed in Haiti, the Marines face in some ways a
tougher threat this time.
   "This chaos has reached a higher level, with guns in the hands of
disparate groups," said McLean, now with the Center for Strategic and
International Studies. "In '94 ... there were individual acts of violence,
but it wasn't quite as organized as we're seeing now."
   On Sunday, a demonstration by opponents of ousted President
Jean-Bertrand Aristide turned violent as gunmen fired into a crowd. At
least six people were killed and more than 30 injured in the worst
bloodshed since Aristide fled Haiti on Feb. 29 and the first peacekeepers
began arriving.
   During the melee, Marines saw two gunmen nearby, said Col. Charles
Gurganus. At least one fired at the Marines, who shot and killed him,
Gurganus said. The troops did not know what happened to the other gunman,
and U.S. authorities did not know to which side of the Haitian divide the
dead gunman belonged.
   The violence led to threats of increased armed action by both opponents
and supporters of Aristide. More than 130 people have died since fighting
started more than a month ago.
   Pentagon officials break down Haiti's violent groups in three ways:
criminals, pro-Aristide gangs and anti-Aristide paramilitaries, the core of
which comes from the country's former armed forces.
   Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld suggested last week that the U.S.
commitment would be no more than 2,000 troops. That's far from the 20,000
used in the 1994 operation, which was termed "Uphold Democracy."
   Pentagon officials say the Marines' mission remains unchanged since they
arrived: to protect key sites and pave the way for a U.N. peacekeeping
force. They are not meant to interfere with force to stop looting but may
fire if directly threatened, officials said.
   A U.N. assessment team was on its way to the Caribbean nation to plan
for a multinational force that will deploy within three months, a U.N.
spokesman said Monday. The team was to arrive Tuesday, spokesman Fred
Eckhard said.
   Last year's U.S. intervention in Liberia may serve as a model for some
members of the Bush administration. The presence of a few thousand U.S.
Marines off the coast -- only 225 actually landed -- served to restore a
semblance of order in that West African country, and U.S. troops left
within a few months.
   The only permanent fix in Haiti, former State Department official McLean
said, will be a long, international commitment that has a greater aim than
simply stabilizing the country and preventing refugees from trying to
escape to the United States.
   "There is no rule of law. There isn't much there, except a lot of people
and a lot of poverty," he said.
   Also Monday, interim Haitian President Boniface Alexandre took office,
even as Aristide, in exile in the Central African Republic, said he remains
the country's rightful leader.
   The Bush administration does not agree.
   "Mr. Aristide has resigned his office and left the country, and now the
Haitian people are involved with grasping (for) democracy and moving
forward under an interim government," said Bush spokesman Trent Duffy.
   "That's where the focus should be right now, and any comments that would
stir up more division are not helpful as the Haitian people move toward a
greater democracy."