Rumsfeld expects U.S. troops' stay in Haiti to be short

By John-Thor Dahlburg and John Hendren
Los Angeles Times

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PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Dozens of U.S. Marines stood guard at Haiti's main airport and the National Palace yesterday, the leading edge in what Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said could soon become a 5,000-member multinational force to help stabilize the country.

Between 1,500 and 2,000 Marines are expected in Haiti, Rumsfeld said, although only about 200 had arrived by last night from Camp Lejeune, N.C.

"More will continue to fly in tonight and tomorrow and the days following," said Col. David Berger, the Marine commander in Port-au-Prince.

French and Canadian soldiers also were being deployed to Haiti, and Chile said it would send up to 300 troops, making it the first Latin American country to join the emergency force authorized by the U.N. Security Council on Sunday after Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide fled amid an armed rebellion.

U.S. troops will take "initial leadership" of the multinational force, Rumsfeld said at a Pentagon briefing, adding that he expected the U.S. troops to be in Haiti for a "relatively short period" before the U.N. force arrives.

"Obviously, we'd like to see some other country take that lead, and they will, eventually," he said. "It's a hemisphere problem. It's not just the United States' problem. We've got a lot of things we're doing. And once the situation's stabilized ... it, I think, would be appropriate to pass the lead off."

Berger said that at the request of U.S. diplomats, he sent 35 Marines into downtown Port-au-Prince to protect the National Palace, where the government of Aristide's interim successor is based. The palace sits next to a vast public square where thousands of Haitians massed in the morning to hail anti-Aristide rebels. There were no reported clashes between the U.S. forces and Haitians.

"They weren't hostile," Berger said of those gathered. Dispatching the Marines, he said, was meant as a guarantee "the crowd wouldn't become unruly."

With foreign troops making initial assessments, the tense, rubble-strewn capital remained besieged by looters and vandals. When — or whether — Marines would start intervening to stop such behavior or Haitian-on-Haitian violence remained uncertain.
 
"We are not the police force," said Berger, when asked how active Marines would be involved in the coming days in restoring public order to Haiti. For the moment, he said, U.S. forces are operating under strict rules of engagement that allow them to protect themselves, U.S. citizens and third-country nationals designated for such protection.

Rumsfeld said the Americans would seek to secure buildings and establish order but declined to say whether U.S. troops would prevent looting and violence among Haitians.

In 1994, when U.S. troops restored Aristide to power after he was deposed for the first time, U.S. forces were criticized for standing by while looters pillaged nearby because their orders didn't allow them to engage people who weren't threatening them.

Berger said the Marines' mission in Haiti was elastic, and most likely would broaden.

At present, the United States, France and Canada "have as their very highest priority the protection of our own citizens," Berger said. " But I think it's going to expand beyond that so the place can get back to normal."

Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said there were no indications that large numbers of Haitians were preparing to flee toward the United States. Coast Guard ships in the Caribbean have picked up 800 to 1,000 refugees and returned them to Haiti in recent days, he said.

As for other foreign troops on the ground, French Army Col. Daniel Leplatois said his orders were to ensure the safety of the French Embassy and of French and European nationals throughout Haiti, "in cooperation with our American and Canadian friends."

Canadian forces spokesman Capt. John Price said his nation's mission was to assist foreign nationals seeking to leave. He said Canadian aircraft carried out 71 people of Canadian and other nationalities yesterday and a Haitian woman who required urgent medical aid for a gunshot wound.

Material from Knight Ridder Newspapers is included in this report.

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