US Marines head for Haiti

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U.S. welcomes Aristide's departure; military assembles Marines

TERENCE HUNT, AP White House Correspondent
Sunday, February 29, 2004


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(02-29) 08:43 PST WASHINGTON (AP) --

The Bush administration welcomed the departure Sunday of one-time ally Jean-Bertrand Aristide from Haiti while Marines assembled to help repatriate Haitian migrants aboard Coast Guard ships.

Rather than send the Marines by ship, as was considered before Aristide's departure, they were expected to go by air in order to arrive more quickly, said defense officials, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The plan was to fly in as many as several hundred Marines to assist the Coast Guard at one or more Haitian ports, the officials said. Such a force, known as a special Marine Air-Ground Task Force, was standing by at Camp Lejeune, N.C., a major Marine Corps base.

The centerpiece of such a task force would be elements of a Marine infantry battalion that is always on short-notice alert at Camp Lejeune, supplemented by Marine aircraft, logistics and other transportation elements.

The administration's intention was to await an official request by the Haitian government and for American military assistance before giving the Marines the go-ahead to deploy, officials said.

As a next step, the administration planned to use those Marines or a larger group of troops as part of an international security force assembled under the auspices of a regional institution called the Caribbean Community, officials said.

"President Aristide's decision is in the best interest of the Haitian people," a senior administration official said after Aristide left Haiti.

Another a U.S. official said an international security force with American participation would get ready should authorization come from Haitian authorities and the U.N. Security Council.

At a debate in New York, Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards said the United States should be part of a U.N. force to secure Haiti. The North Carolina senator and other Democrats accused President Bush of neglecting the Caribbean nation as it spiraled into chaos.

"He's late, as usual," said John Kerry, the undisputed front-runner for the Democratic nomination.

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500 Marines on standby for Haiti
From correspondents in Washington
March 1, 2004

A CONTINGENT of about 500 US Marines could fly into Haiti as early as today to assist refugee repatriations by the US Coast Guard if an agreement could be worked out by the US State Department, a US defence official said.

The official, who asked not to be identified, said the Marine contingent was not part of a multinational stabilisation force for Haiti, but could be joined to such a force if one was deployed.

"The initial support would be to assist with the repatriation of migrants," the official said.

"Maybe it does morph into some type of international security assistance force later on during the week, but that's not what they're going down there for originally."

The US contingent would consist of "roughly" 500 marines who would fly into the capital Port-au-Prince and establish a presence in the area, the official said.