THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, September 26, 1994 TAG: 9409260090
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Guy Friddell
LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines
You should have heard U.S. Sen. Sam Nunn on Tim Russert's ``Meet the Press'' Sunday. You'd feel better about our occupying Haiti.
Asked why this agreement would hold, Nunn said: ``My answer is four reasons: Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force. We're in control.''
He is straight and nonpartisan. Others, including ranting talk show hosts, are so bilious they can't seem to bear for a Clinton policy to work.
The most bombastic has speculated to what trouble spot Clinton will turn next to divert attention from the ``failure'' in Haiti.
Many Americans recognize the triumph in our entering that tormented country without loss of life.
No one had come up with a way to stem the tide of Haitians to our shores. Clinton overrode the State Department to send Nunn, Jimmy Carter and Colin Powell to talk.
For Bob Woodward, Nunn put in perspective Carter, who ``played a remarkable role but he didn't overstep his bounds. He was very careful to stay within the parameters President Clinton gave us. . . ''
Were Carter's criticisms of Clinton and his administration appropriate? Al Hunt asked.
Carter's views, Nunn said, ``were primarily his frustration with the State Department, and I think that came out strong. I suspect that President Carter didn't expect all that to come out that way, but he was exhausted. . . . and I'm sure that he gave his frank opinion in some areas that, perhaps, would have been better unspoken.''
Carter, he said, is ``an extraordinary American, and without him, this mission. . . would not have been a peaceful occupation, and there would have been, without any doubt, perhaps hundreds of Americans that were casualties and certainly thousands of Haitians. . . ''
Might not North Koreans ask who controls foreign policy - the State Department or former presidents?
North Koreans, Nunn said, ``have seen a very strong American military force off the shore of Haiti. . . and have seen that force now completely occupying and in control of Haiti with no casualties.''
From the point of view of military people in North Korea, ``I think that was pretty impressive in terms of the willingness to use military force and the amazing ability to get it done without any casualties.''
Had the three feared they might become hostages? Russert asked.
Yes, but, ``we felt that if we were successful, we were going to save hundreds, possibly thousands of lives, and with that kind of mission, you don't stop and think about it very often.''
Nunn has urged President Aristide to call parliament now to deal with amnesty and ``stop the cycle of violence,'' and to go to the United Nations and ask it to lift the embargo.
With the expectations of the Haitian people high while their suffering continues, ``if that embargo is not lifted, the American military will suffer the consequences.''
In a country that had six coups in the last seven years, our broad mission is to give the Haitian people the chance to build democracy - ``not rebuild it, but build it.''
Would Nunn accept a bid to be secretary of state?
Nunn said he'd probably reply: ``Mr. President, will every weekend be like the one I had in Haiti? If so, I'm not interested. I kind of like the Senate filibusters.''
He'd fit the Oval Office nicely. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Sam Nunn
by CNB