THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, March 31, 1995 TAG: 9503310518
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BILL SIZEMORE AND JACK DORSEY, STAFF WRITERS
LENGTH: Long : 107 lines
As President Clinton visits Haiti today to celebrate a rare foreign policy triumph, Hampton Roads-based Coast Guard crews are returning from the island nation with first-hand knowledge of just how fragile that triumph is.
Clinton, the first American president to visit Haiti in 60 years, will join U.N. Secretary General Boutros-Boutros Ghali at a ceremony transferring responsibility to U.N. peacekeepers. Those forces will take over from the U.S.-led multinational force sent to Haiti last September to help restore democratic rule.
Meanwhile, the Portsmouth-based Coast Guard cutter Forward is returning home this morning from a Caribbean cruise that included harbor security work in Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital. Another Portsmouth-based cutter, the Aquidneck, returned last weekend from a similar mission.
The U.S. Coast Guardsmen worked to assure safe passage for cargo vessels going in and out of the harbor and to protect their cargoes from theft. As part of the mission, they trained a group of Haitian police officers to take over the work after the U.S. pullout.
Lt. Scott Decker, commanding officer of the Aquidneck, said there were no reported thefts or violent incidents in the Port-au-Prince harbor during the cutter's monthlong mission.
But whether the Haitians will be able to maintain order on their own isn't yet clear, Decker said.
``There's genuine concern on their part that once the military leaves, it's basically going to collapse on them,'' he said. ``We're trying to teach them not to revert to the old way of handling things - to actually stand up and exercise their own authority. But we're trying to change habits that have developed over a long period of time. They know how to do it; whether they're going to apply that knowledge remains to be seen.''
Decker said many Haitians ply the harbor in dugout canoes, some with paddles, others with plastic sails, trying to eke out livings in the desperately poor country by selling or bartering handmade items. But they can pose hazards to navigation, and Decker said the Haitian police were reluctant to keep them in check.
``They are a very peaceful people,'' he said. ``They really didn't want to say, `Hey, you've got to leave.' ''
The U.N. has concluded that a ``safe and secure'' environment has been established in Haiti, permitting the U.N. takeover. But crime has been on the increase lately, highlighted by the murder Tuesday of an opposition political leader and, in a separate incident, the wounding of an American missionary couple during a robbery.
A report by Human Rights Watch-Americas and the National Coalition for Haitian Refugees says the U.N. will face ``increasing political tensions and a serious security void.'' It says lawlessness is the result of an ineffective interim police force drawn largely from the Haitian army.
But Clinton's deputy national security adviser, Sandy Berger, said the pluses in Haiti far outweigh the minuses. ``Haiti today is a nation where people are building roads to get to market rather than boats to escape terror,'' he said.
Clinton will spend about nine hours in Port-au-Prince, meeting with President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and with the U.S. troops who helped restore him to power.
In many other foreign policy challenges - Bosnia, China, Russia and Somalia - the administration has fallen short of policy goals. Haiti is one of the few where Clinton can claim a bona fide success.
To the astonishment of U.S. officials, only one American has been the victim of hostile fire. U.S. troops have been extraordinarily well-received, and Aristide, far from behaving as a polarizing demagogue as many had feared, has been a relentless advocate of reconciliation.
Marine Corps Gen. John J. Sheehan, who has been in overall charge of U.S. military operations in Haiti, said Thursday he foresees no problems in turning over the peacekeeping responsibilities to U.N. forces.
``It is not going to be a problem. It will go well,'' said Sheehan, commander-in-chief of the U.S. Atlantic Command, with headquarters in Norfolk.
Asked about this week's assassination and the wounding of the two missionaries, Sheehan said:
``Haiti is a violent country. They average two killings a day.''
The country's future rides on its ability to maintain its own security, Sheehan said during a news conference in Suffolk.
"Aristide has got to lead his people . . . if Haiti is to have its own peace.''
The successes of the U.S. in Haiti have taken place because of the heavy investment of jointly trained forces that were sent there, he said.
Sheehan said the Haitian operation has not shown the confusion that marred the earlier U.S. mission in Somalia because there has always been a priority of focus.
There will be no ``mission creep'' in Haiti like that which drew U.S. troops into street battles with warlords in Somalia, he said, because U.S. forces have learned to ``work coherently with the United Nations.''
About 2,400 of the 6,000 U.N. peacekeepers will be American. The U.S. had as many as 22,000 troops in Haiti at the height of the crisis.
During Clinton's first year and a half in office, Haiti seemed beyond solution. Nowadays, hardly any Haitians flee on boats, and the trio of military leaders who ran the country with a heavy hand for three years languishes in angry exile. Municipal and legislative elections are scheduled for June. MEMO: The Associated Press contributed to this report.
ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS photo
Pomp and poverty, side by side: Two homeless people sleep on a
bandstand near the presidential palace. The bandstand was erected
for today's transfer-of-control ceremony with President Clinton.
KEYWORDS: HAITI by CNB