20265: radtimes: Pentagon increases U.S. role in Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: radtimes <resist@best.com>

Pentagon increases U.S. role in Haiti

http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20040311-122801-5511r.htm

By Rowan Scarborough and Sharon Behn
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
March 11, 2004

     The Pentagon yesterday announced it has expanded the role of American
troops patrolling the streets of Haiti as lawmakers on Capitol Hill called
for a substantial increase in the size of the U.S. force in order to secure
order in the troubled Caribbean nation.
     International troops in Haiti now will intervene to prevent any
Haitian-on-Haitian violence, as well as protect key sites and disarm the
population ahead of the arrival of a larger United Nations force aimed at
reestablishing law and order, according to Army Gen. James Hill, the chief
of U.S. Southern Command.
     Gen. Hill, who heads the burgeoning "Multinational Interim Force" of
more than 2,400 troops, told reporters at the Pentagon the amended rules of
engagement are in addition to disarming any Haitian not authorized to carry
a firearm.
     "When Multinational Interim Force personnel encounter any acts of
violence, they will intervene to protect life," he said.
     The general said U.S. forces will also search for arms caches, but
added there has been no sign so far of any kind of organized insurgency
akin to the deadly attacks against U.S. troops in Iraq.
     The changes mean that a U.S. intervention that began as a mission to
protect the American embassy compound in Port-au-Prince now includes the
more dangerous assignment of disarming citizens and stopping violence. U.S.
officials said there were no plans to intercede to stop rampant looting.
     "No one from the multinational force going in was going to stand there
and watch one Haitian kill another Haitian without trying to intervene in
that," Gen. Hill said.
     Some 1,600 American troops are spearheading the interim international
force trying to restore order in the half-island nation following the
resignation and abrupt exile of former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide Feb. 29.
     Newly named interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue, an economist and
former foreign minister who had been living in Florida, arrived in
Port-au-Prince yesterday vowing to improve security in advance of the
establishment of a permanent new government.
     More than a week after Mr. Aristide's dawn departure, armed bands of
pro-Aristide and opposition forces continue to roam the streets and bodies
have been found on the side of the road shot execution-style.
     U.S. forces have also come under fire, and Marines have killed four
Haitians in recent days. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Vice
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Gen. Peter Pace have defended
the actions.
     At a Senate hearing yesterday, lawmakers said the situation called for
a larger U.S. military commitment.
     "It is abundantly clear there are not enough troops," said Sen. Mike
DeWine, Ohio Republican. "Unless there are more troops put into Haiti by
the United States, we are not going to be able to stabilize the situation."
     Sen. Bob Graham, Florida Democrat, added: "One lesson of our past
involvements in nation- building is that you need to use maximum, not
minimum, military presence at the outset."
     Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Roger
Noriega told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing that the number
of international forces in Haiti would soon reach 3,400. In addition to the
1,600 American troops, the contingent now includes 516 French, 328 Chilean
and 52 Canadian troops.
     "Other countries have offered support and we have undertaken urgent
diplomatic efforts to make these troops available in the short run," said
Mr. Noriega.
     The Bush administration yesterday also defended its handling of Mr.
Aristide, who fled in a U.S.-provided jet after a deadly two-week uprising.
U.S. officials said the exiled leader's corrupt rule had lost all legitimacy.
     Lawyers for Mr. Aristide said they were preparing a case against the
United States, accusing it of having abducted the former leader and flown
to the Central African Republic against his will.
     Mr. Noriega dismissed Mr. Aristide's claims as "ridiculous," but said
that: "A democratically elected government can undermine its democratic
legitimacy by the manner in which it governs."
     Democratic senators and Congressional Black Caucus members, angered by
Washington's decision not to stand by Mr. Aristide, lashed out at the
administration's stance.
     "It is clear that a coup d'etat took place in Haiti," said Rep. Maxine
Waters, California Democrat.
     Mr. Noriega insisted that Mr. Aristide's departure from Haiti was
never a U.S. demand, but pointedly added the administration had decided
"that merely propping up the Aristide government was not worth risking
American lives."
     U.S. lawyer Brian Concannon, who met with Mr. Aristide, said in Paris
yesterday there were "preparations for a kidnapping case against the
American authorities." Cases are being prepared in the United States and
France, he said.
     "He was not free to leave the plane," Mr. Concannon said. "He was not
free to decide the plane's direction. He did not even know where the plane
was going."

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