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U.S. Considers Sending Warships, Marines to Haiti
25 minutes ago Add Top Stories - Reuters to My Yahoo!
By Will Dunham
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is considering sending three warships with about 2,000 U.S. Marines, headed by the helicopter carrier USS Saipan, to rebellion-torn Haiti as the Pentagon (news - web sites) weighs options to address the crisis, defense officials said on Friday.
The officials said no deployment orders had been issued to send the Amphibious Ready Group led by the Saipan to Haiti from Norfolk, Virginia, but called that one of the options being considered.
"They are at a state of readiness that allows them to be able to deploy, if called upon, within a matter of days," said Navy Lt. Jim Hoeft, a spokesman for the Fleet Forces Command, referring to the Saipan group.
If ordered to sail, it would take about two days for those ships to reach the impoverished Caribbean nation where President Jean-Bertrand Aristide faces an armed revolt, one official said.
The Saipan is an amphibious assault ship that carries helicopters and AV-8B Harrier attack jets. The other two ships are the dock-landing ship USS Oak Hill and the amphibious transport dock USS Trenton, the officials said.
"If the president (George W. Bush) decides to take action, the Navy needs to be ready," said another Navy official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
This official said the U.S. military could do nothing, or other options included sending the three ships without large numbers of Marines merely for maritime interdiction or to support U.S. Coast Guard (news - web sites) ships trying to prevent a mass exodus of Haitians to the United States, or sending the ships and about 2,000 Marines.
The Miami-based U.S. Southern Command last week sent a four-member security assessment team to examine the safety of the U.S. Embassy in Haiti.
On Monday, Southern Command sent about 50 Marines to Haiti to protect the embassy in the capital Port-au-Prince.
The rebels edged closer to the Haitian capital on Friday while supporters of Aristide mounted defenses.
During the Clinton administration, the United States sent 20,000 troops to Haiti in 1994 to restore Aristide to power after a coup.
Defense Department officials have not been enthusiastic about a military mission in Haiti. The U.S. military is stretched thin by operations in Iraq (news - web sites), Afghanistan (news - web sites) and elsewhere, although officials said that would not prevent them from being able to mount a robust Haiti operation if necessary.
CONGRESSIONAL PRESSURE
The Bush administration came under pressure from some congressional Democrats to take military action.
Democratic Sens. Bob Graham of Florida, Christopher Dodd of Connecticut and Tom Harkin of Iowa urged the administration to dispatch a security force to Haiti this weekend.
"U.S. leadership means deploying a security force -- preferably multilaterally -- before it is too late. That means within the next 24 to 48 hours," Dodd said.
A Florida Republican, Rep. Mark Foley (news, bio, voting record), urged the United Nations (news - web sites) to "take immediate action to stop the bloodshed in Haiti" by sending an international force to halt the violence.
"If the U.N. does not act now, a mass exodus from Haiti will result in serious repercussions on Florida's shores," Foley said.
The Pentagon last summer sent a similar three-ship group with about 2,000 Marines to the coast of Liberia (news - web sites) amid political turmoil there. But pariah leader Charles Taylor flew into exile in Nigeria in August and most of the U.S. troops never set foot on land.
25 minutes ago Add Top Stories - Reuters to My Yahoo!
By Will Dunham
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is considering sending three warships with about 2,000 U.S. Marines, headed by the helicopter carrier USS Saipan, to rebellion-torn Haiti as the Pentagon (news - web sites) weighs options to address the crisis, defense officials said on Friday.
The officials said no deployment orders had been issued to send the Amphibious Ready Group led by the Saipan to Haiti from Norfolk, Virginia, but called that one of the options being considered.
"They are at a state of readiness that allows them to be able to deploy, if called upon, within a matter of days," said Navy Lt. Jim Hoeft, a spokesman for the Fleet Forces Command, referring to the Saipan group.
If ordered to sail, it would take about two days for those ships to reach the impoverished Caribbean nation where President Jean-Bertrand Aristide faces an armed revolt, one official said.
The Saipan is an amphibious assault ship that carries helicopters and AV-8B Harrier attack jets. The other two ships are the dock-landing ship USS Oak Hill and the amphibious transport dock USS Trenton, the officials said.
"If the president (George W. Bush) decides to take action, the Navy needs to be ready," said another Navy official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
This official said the U.S. military could do nothing, or other options included sending the three ships without large numbers of Marines merely for maritime interdiction or to support U.S. Coast Guard (news - web sites) ships trying to prevent a mass exodus of Haitians to the United States, or sending the ships and about 2,000 Marines.
The Miami-based U.S. Southern Command last week sent a four-member security assessment team to examine the safety of the U.S. Embassy in Haiti.
On Monday, Southern Command sent about 50 Marines to Haiti to protect the embassy in the capital Port-au-Prince.
The rebels edged closer to the Haitian capital on Friday while supporters of Aristide mounted defenses.
During the Clinton administration, the United States sent 20,000 troops to Haiti in 1994 to restore Aristide to power after a coup.
Defense Department officials have not been enthusiastic about a military mission in Haiti. The U.S. military is stretched thin by operations in Iraq (news - web sites), Afghanistan (news - web sites) and elsewhere, although officials said that would not prevent them from being able to mount a robust Haiti operation if necessary.
CONGRESSIONAL PRESSURE
The Bush administration came under pressure from some congressional Democrats to take military action.
Democratic Sens. Bob Graham of Florida, Christopher Dodd of Connecticut and Tom Harkin of Iowa urged the administration to dispatch a security force to Haiti this weekend.
"U.S. leadership means deploying a security force -- preferably multilaterally -- before it is too late. That means within the next 24 to 48 hours," Dodd said.
A Florida Republican, Rep. Mark Foley (news, bio, voting record), urged the United Nations (news - web sites) to "take immediate action to stop the bloodshed in Haiti" by sending an international force to halt the violence.
"If the U.N. does not act now, a mass exodus from Haiti will result in serious repercussions on Florida's shores," Foley said.
The Pentagon last summer sent a similar three-ship group with about 2,000 Marines to the coast of Liberia (news - web sites) amid political turmoil there. But pariah leader Charles Taylor flew into exile in Nigeria in August and most of the U.S. troops never set foot on land.
