U.S. Military Resources Getting Spread Too Thin?
U.S. sending military team to Haiti
By Tom Squitieri, USA TODAY
A small U.S. military team is going to Haiti to determine the security of the U.S. Embassy amid a three-week rebellion that could topple President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
Pentagon (news - web sites) spokesman Lawrence Di Rita said Thursday that U.S. Ambassador James Foley asked for the assessment. Four military experts should arrive in Haiti by Saturday.
Dozens of people have been killed in the revolt that began Feb. 5. Insurgents control major cities in the north and are closing in on Cap-Haitien, the second largest city, but Aristide vowed to fight to the death if necessary.
The uprising is led by gang members once loyal to Aristide who turned on him after the death of a gang leader in September. Gang members say he was silenced to prevent spreading damaging information about Aristide.
The United States, Canada and France will send emissaries this weekend to push a peace plan that calls for a new government and the release of political prisoners. It does not call for Aristide's resignation. But Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) said the USA would not object if Aristide agreed to step down to settle the situation.
The United States has been under pressure from other countries to get involved in the latest imbroglio for Haiti. In 1994, the Clinton administration ordered troops into Haiti to restore Aristide to power after he had been ousted in a military coup. Aristide, a former priest, became Haiti's first freely elected leader in 1990.
In recent years, Aristide has been accused of using armed thugs to jail and kill political opponents in the impoverished island nation.
Meanwhile, the State Department urged U.S. citizens to leave Haiti, where more than 20,000 Americans live. Some family of U.S. Embassy staff and non-essential employees have left. The Peace Corps ordered its staff to leave.
