THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, August 1, 1994 TAG: 9408010072
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JULIA PRESTON, THE WASHINGTON POST
DATELINE: UNITED NATIONS LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
The Security Council authorized the United States on Sunday to lead a multinational invasion to drive out the military rulers of Haiti and restore exiled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to power.
By securing the United Nations' blessing for the first time for an armed intervention in the Western Hemisphere, the Clinton administration demonstrated broad support for the ouster of the military leaders and raised pressure on them to step aside.
The Security Council set no deadline for U.S. forces to launch the attack, leaving the timing to President Clinton. U.S. officials said no action is imminent, and Washington has yet to declare that an invasion will occur.
Madeleine K. Albright, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said the message to Lt. Gen. Raoul Cedras, the armed forces commander, and two other top officers making up the military leadership is: ``You can depart voluntarily and soon, or you can depart involuntarily and soon. The sun is setting on your ruthless ambition.''
The resolution, adopted by a vote of 12 in favor with 2 abstentions, authorizes the United States to raise a multinational force to ``use all necessary means to facilitate the departure from Haiti of the military leadership'' and ``establish and maintain a secure and stable environment.''
U.S. diplomats managed to overcome the reluctance of Aristide as well as most of the opposition of countries in Latin America, which are mindful of the long history of armed U.S. intrusions in their region. Argentina voted in favor, but Brazil, along with China, abstained. Rwanda was absent.
The Security Council said its goal is Aristide's ``prompt return,'' but it did not set the fixed deadline he demanded. But Aristide backed the measure anyway in a letter calling for ``prompt and decisive action'' to restore democracy. He has declared that the Haitian constitution bars him from giving more explicit approval for an armed foreign intervention.
Aristide's letter provided a loophole that calmed most Latin countries. Since Aristide still is the legal president of Haiti, the Latin nations can argue they are not defending an unwanted unilateral U.S. assault, such as the 1989 U.S. invasion of Panama - which a majority of the countries, reacting under the umbrella of the Organization of American States, opposed.
Still, Mexico's ambassador, Victor Flores Olea, objected in a speech that the United Nations was giving an ``across-the-board authorization for the actions of poorly defined multinational forces'' that could set a dangerous permanent precedent. Other nonmembers of the council, including Uruguay, Venezuela and Cuba, also registered opposition to the resolution.
It is up to the United States to determine how many of its troops will participate. The Pentagon has said as many as 15,000 U.S. troops could be deployed. Argentine envoys said Friday that their country would participate if a force were created, offering about 600 troops. Jamaica is considering a small role.
The council also laid the groundwork for a 6,000-troop peacekeeping mission under U.N. command, which is to take over from the U.S.-led force once order is restored and remain in Haiti until February 1996. The peacekeepers are to keep order, retrain and reorganize the Haitian army and police, and monitor national elections late next year.
U.S. officials said several thousand U.S. troops will stay behind in Haiti to join this mission, as they did in Somalia. But this time Washington is insisting on a U.S. commander. The costs will be paid through the United Nations, with the U.S. share about one-third.
In an unusual twist, the council also set up a force of several dozen international monitors to keep an eye on the U.S.-led assault. This was seen as a concession to Russia, after the council set up a similar monitoring group in mid-July to scrutinize Russian troops who are on a U.N.-approved peacekeeping mission in the former Soviet Georgia. Over Moscow's objections, the council insisted on the observers in Georgia because of fears Russia may be using a peacekeeping cover to reassert control there.
The resolution resembles the one that authorized U.S. intervention in Iraq three years ago, although this time the United States has not made as clear its determination to use military force.
KEYWORDS: HAITI by CNB