Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, September 17, 1994 TAG: 9409200040
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By DAVID M. POOLE and MARGARET EDDS STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. John Warner - campaigning with independent Marshall Coleman in Norfolk - held out the possibility that President Clinton may broker a diplomatic solution.
"I think, candidly, [administration officials] have taken some very prudent steps in the last several days unrelated to the use of military forces," said Warner, who is the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee. "It very well may be that those steps will bear fruit in the final hours."
Warner declined to provide details, saying they were "too classified."
Robb was accosted outside a grocery store in Richmond by a Democratic supporter who pressed him to back down on Haiti.
The woman praised Robb for his 1991 vote for military action in the Persian Gulf War, but said that the situation in Haiti is different because there are no clear U.S. interests at stake.
"We're in a position now that if we don't act after having said we would act," Robb told the woman, "our credibility nationally and internationally would be destroyed."
Republican Oliver North rejected the military option, saying it is nothing more than a cynical attempt by Clinton to boost his sagging popularity.
"His poll numbers aren't worth one drop of American blood," North said.
Coleman, a former Republican state attorney general who is running with Warner's blessing as an alternative to North, said Clinton has failed to make the case that Haiti poses a national security threat.
"Unfortunately, we cannot impose democracy in every country in the world. We should not risk American lives every time a government behaves badly," Coleman said.
by CNB