20586: Esser: Top U.S. officer tells Aristide to keep quiet (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: D. Esser torx@joimail.com

South Florida Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com

March 19, 2004

Top U.S. officer tells Aristide to keep quiet
By Sandra Hernandez
Associated Press

Calling on ousted Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide to "keep
his mouth closed," the head of the U.S. Southern Command said
international intervention in Haiti was necessary to avoid a
Rwandan-like situation.

"It would be a lot more helpful if Mr. Aristide was a statesman ...
and he could do that by keeping his mouth closed," Gen. James T. Hill
said Thursday during a speech at a security conference in Miami.

Aristide, who fled Haiti on Feb. 29, has called for peaceful
demonstrations while in exile in Africa, but has remained silent
since arriving in Jamaica this week to be reunited with his two
daughters.

Speaking before a crowd of academics, military experts and officers,
Hill said international intervention was necessary in Haiti to avoid
a bloodbath similar to those in some warring African nations. The
two-day meeting sponsored by the U.S. Army War College and Florida
International University's Latin American and Caribbean Center
focused on security issues in the region.

"We simply can't have these failed states," he said. "If we are not
careful you will have a Rwandan type of human catastrophe in the
middle of the advanced world."

The U.S. Southern Command is overseeing the military operations in
Haiti. About 1,700 U.S. troops are in the Caribbean nation as part of
an interim international security force that includes French,
Canadian and Chilean soldiers. Those peacekeepers are expected to be
replaced by a United Nations force.

So far, troops have received a lukewarm welcome from both Aristide
supporters and opponents, who say the foreign soldiers are an
occupying force that has failed to protect Haitians and disarm gangs.

Hill also criticized any plans to reconstitute Haiti's military
saying efforts should focus on rebuilding Haiti's National Police.

"I see zero need to reconstitute the army. The only thing it ever did
was oppress people. What you need is an organized, well-trained
professional police force," he said. Haiti's military was dismantled
in 1995 amid charges of human rights violations.

Some Haitians have called for a new army to combat the increased
violence. But those demands are getting a cold reception in
Washington.

Sandra Hernandez can be reached at shernandez@sun-sentinel.com or 954
356 4514.

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