Word: haitian
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...discuss Haiti with his senior foreign-policy advisers. While the President gave no final go-ahead, the issues on the table boiled down to tactics: how to handle Congress; whether to set a public deadline for invasion; and who -- if anyone -- should be sent to deliver to the Haitian government a "drop-dead date" by which it must step down or be kicked...
...quits. Late last week some Administration officials suggested that Cedras and his cronies may finally be realizing the seriousness of their predicament. Asked to describe evidence for this, a White House aide refused to elaborate but hinted that recent intelligence reports indicated a shift in tone among the Haitian leaders based on "how they are talking among themselves." In Port-au-Prince, a Haitian political analyst scoffed at the idea. "There has been too much bluffing, too many mixed signals in the history of this crisis," he said, "to believe the Clinton Administration is really serious about ending this...
Then Clinton would explain that he has exhausted all peaceful means of resolving the conflict. The U.S. has tried -- and failed -- to dislodge the junta through negotiations and through economic sanctions whose effect on the Haitian poor now borders "on cruelty." Finally, the official said, the President would argue that the U.S. can no longer accept a situation in Haiti & that contributes to the disastrous explosion of refugees from the Caribbean...
Although the Pentagon has long insisted its troops would meet little resistance from the 7,000-man Haitian army, spokesmen indicated the total invasion force will probably consist of 20,000 U.S. troops, an overwhelming force intended to minimize casualties. Nearly half would be slated for peacekeeping, once returning President Jean-Bertrand Aristide settles in. Only about 13,000 are expected to actually invade Haiti, led by 1,800 Marines, who will storm Port-au-Prince to secure the airport and the U.S. embassy and then await reinforcements. The entire operation will be commanded by Admiral Paul D. Miller...
...after the initial attack. As tensions heightened, William Gray III, Clinton's special envoy on Haiti, brought General John Shalikashvili, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, together with Aristide for a 90-minute meeting on Tuesday, when details of the invasion were discussed. The U.S. also began enlisting Haitian refugees from Guantanamo to participate in an interim police force that would step in to replace the Haitian army and restore order. A token force of about 300 troops from eight Caribbean nations would then join a larger international peacekeeping force that would quickly replace U.S. units and train...