Posted on 03/01/2004 10:25:08 AM PST by areafiftyone
WASHINGTON, March 1 (Reuters) - The United States plans to deploy roughly 1,000 troops in Haiti to head an international stability force, but does not intend to repeat the larger-scale military involvement of a decade ago, U.S. officials said on Monday.
About 200 U.S. Marines already are on the ground in Haiti. A senior U.S. official said at least 200 more will be flown to Haiti today from the Marine Corps Air Station at Cherry Point, North Carolina, near Camp Lejeune.
Secretary of State Colin Powell, speaking on NBC's "Today Show," said the U.S. military contingent would number "in the hundreds, maybe a little more than 1,000 or so, but it is not a large force."
President George W. Bush on Sunday ordered in the Marines to lead an international force to restore order and stability to Haiti after President Jean-Bertrand Aristide resigned in the face of an armed rebellion and fled to Africa.
Under President Bill Clinton, the United States in 1994 sent more than 20,000 U.S. troops to Haiti to restore Aristide, the country's first democratically elected leader, to power after he was toppled in a coup.
Powell said the current mission would be "nothing like the 20,000 troops that went in 10 years ago."
The international force is expected to include soldiers from France, Canada and Latin America, but Powell did not say how long the U.S. contingent would remain in Haiti.
CHANGING ROLE
"I think initially we will comprise the bulk of the effort and we will have a lead role, but I think over time those numbers will shift. And I expect it will change from combat troops to more police forces, internal security, gendarmerie type forces, and we can also shift leadership as well," Powell told the CBS "Early Show."
The senior U.S. official declined to be specific about the precise size of the U.S. contribution to the force. "That is being determined as we continue to assess the situation," the official told Reuters.
Under a U.N. Security Council resolution on Sunday, the interim force would maintain stability in Haiti for up to 90 days until a longer-term U.N. stabilization force takes over peacekeeping.
A senior U.S. defense official said the final U.S. contribution to the interim force would depend on what other nations provided. He noted that France and Canada already were participating and said that several Caribbean states had expressed interest, but declined to be more specific.
Another defense official said a major task of the Marines was to bring stability in order to cut the flow of illegal refugees fleeing Haiti in rickety, dangerous boats to Florida. The Marines are providing safe harbor for U.S. Coast Guard vessels to return refugees picked up at sea.
"But I think the exodus has virtually stopped," the official said.
The Pentagon said on Sunday that the Marines' mission was to: secure key sites in Port-au-Prince; protect U.S. citizens; contribute to security and stability in the capital; pave the way for the arrive of the international force; assist in delivering humanitarian aid; and repatriate Haitian migrants interdicted at sea. (With additional reporting by Charles Aldinger)
I was wondering when the "race card" would get inserted into this election year...pit the blacks against hispanics Florida re-hashing of the Cuba vs Haiti immigrants...
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