THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 23, 1994 TAG: 9409230557
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DENNIS JOYCE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 97 lines
U.S. troops will remain in Haiti at least through the end of the year, when the tab for securing the return of Haiti's elected president will reach about $250 million, Defense Secretary William J. Perry said during a visit to Norfolk on Thursday.
``The key to how quickly we get our troops out is how quickly there is a new police force on line,'' Perry said.
Lt. Gen. Raoul Cedras has agreed to step down as Haiti's military leader by Oct. 15, when forces friendly to ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide would begin taking over the army and police force.
``I would expect that one of the first acts of President Aristide would be to appoint a new commander of both,'' Perry said.
At a news conference during a morning-long visit with Norfolk sailors, Perry said the United States is working quickly to train new Haitian security forces, including some of the 14,000 Haitian refugees at Guantanamo Bay Naval Station in Cuba.
The Pentagon is spending about $50 million to get its forces into Haiti. The task should be completed by the end of the week, when 14,000 troops are expected to be on the ground. The other $200 million is for operations during the next 3 1/2 months, through December's parliamentary elections that are seen as key to a lasting democracy in Haiti.
``A complicating factor is that the Haitian army is still there, they still have a commander and they're still armed,'' Perry said. ``We believe we can do this peacefully, but we are prepared to do it however we need to.''
Asked about Cedras' announcement Wednesday that he would not leave Haiti, Perry said U.S. troops will not push him out. But he echoed Clinton administration sentiment that Cedras will probably leave anyway once his adversary Aristide takes charge.
Perry said there should be no confusion about the role U.S.troops are playing in Haiti, despite complaints that they stood by on Tuesday as Haitian police beat citizens conducting pro-American demonstrations.
``This is unacceptable, as far as we are concerned,'' Perry said. ``We will take action to prevent that from happening.''
Those first U.S. soldiers in Haiti were an invasion force, sent to secure key positions, Perry said. They entered the country unscathed because of an 11th-hour diplomatic agreement, he said, but helping keep order there is the duty of the second wave - the 1,000 military police who have entered the country so far.
``We have had two very detailed meetings with Cedras about the role of the military police, the standards of conduct,'' Perry said. ``I believe we will see substantial improvement in that regard.''
A main role of the military police will be preventing violence, Perry said. They will be stationed with Haitian police at all levels, he said, from headquarters to precincts. They also will help man checkpoints throughout the country.
Only if the military police lose control will U.S. combat troops, riding Bradley Fighting Vehicles, be called in to help quell violence, he said.
Perry spoke with reporters Thursday at Norfolk Naval Air Station inside a new hangar that is home to Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron 122. He spoke with members of the E-2C Hawkeye squadron, nicknamed Steeljaw, which recently returned from five months of drug-interdiction work in the Caribbean.
Perry marveled at how much equipment the Navy jams into the radar-domed Hawkeye, which, with a crew of five, is smaller than its Air Force counterpart the AWACS.
``Unlike the Navy, they haven't learned how to perform this function in a small space,'' he said.
Perry also visited sailors aboard the submarine Scranton, the amphibious assault ship Inchon and the destroyer Ticonderoga, covering all three divisions of the Navy - air, submarine and surface forces. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
IAN MARTIN/Staff
Defense Secretary William J. Perry spoke at Norfolk Naval Air
Station with members of the E-2C Hawkeye squadron, nicknamed
Steeljaw.
Photo
IAN MARTIN/Staff
Defense Secretary William J. Perry briefs Navy personnel and the
media about Haiti at the Norfolk Naval Station on Thursday.
KEYWORDS: HAITI by CNB