Word: saber
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Simultaneously, in case Haiti's rulers thought Washington had stopped paying attention to them, the State Department and Pentagon joined in reviving earlier threats of a U.S. invasion, whooping it up as inevitable. As theater, it was the kind of showy saber rattling Haitian Army Chief Raoul Cedras and his cronies have grown used to ignoring. While some officials publicly speculated about the number of troops needed (12,000 to 13,000), the likely cost ($427 million) and a possible date (mid-October), President Clinton still has not given the go-ahead...
...clean up the country after Haiti's military junta leaves. "The multinational force is going to Haiti," Deputy Defense Secretary John Deutch vowed. At the same news conference, Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott said the use of force would be "a last resort." Confused? The renewed U.S. saber rattling prompted some bluff calling from unofficial intermediary Randall Robinson, executive director of the TransAfrica, who demanded the Administration give the junta 48 hours to get out. BTW: Robinson complained that the Clinton Administration's policy was in disarray. For evidence, he cited a TIME Daily report of July...
Politics and morality often make interesting bed-fellows, and the Clinton administration has not been able to avoid this phenomenon. Consider Bosnia, Rwanda and North Korea. In one instance, Washington rattle saber in scabbard threatening embargoes, air strikes or outright intervention; in the next peace offerings are sent with ex-presidents, who dole out hugs and handshakes. And yet the seemingly ever-present spectre of a protracted military presence in Haiti looms large on the Clinton foreign policy horizon...
...saber rattling and Haitian shouts of defiance, there were still indications that a final showdown really is not imminent. The White House still hopes that Cedras and his crew can be pushed out by economic, diplomatic and psychological pressure. One means is to tighten further the embargo against Haiti. The Administration noted with pleasure that all commercial air service into and out of Haiti will end by August, when Air France will suspend its flights. Clinton signed an order for U.S. helicopters to patrol Haiti's border with the Dominican Republic, watching for gasoline shipments, which have been regularly smuggled...
Despite indications that Haitian resistance would be negligible, Clinton's aides insist that the President still has not made up his mind about an invasion. Yet by rattling the saber so loudly last week, Clinton has left himself little alternative but to invade. If he does nothing, he risks looking even weaker and more indecisive than he already appears. And that is a scenario the Administration relishes even less than the prospect of military action...