U.S. troops will move to disarm Haitians

[Reuter / Charles Aldinger]

WASHINGTON (Reuter) - The Pentagon, acting on bitter lessons
learned in Somalia, said Monday that 15,000 U.S. troops bound
for Haiti will try to disarm paramilitary and other groups
there.
Defense Secretary William Perry and Army General John
Shalikashvili, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the
U.S. force will not rely on promises of cooperation from Haiti's
military and will be prepared to fight if necessary.
``We are going in there very much with our eyes open,'' said
Shalikashvili. ``We are going in based on the ability of our
troops to defend themselves.''
``It is certainly our intent to get on with a program of
buying back weapons, disarming those paramilitary forces and
others that don't have to have weapons and pose a threat to the
public and general law and order,'' he added in an interview on
CNN.
Thirty U.S. troops died during the troubled U.S.-led
peacekeeping mission in Somalia, including 18 slain and 75
wounded in one guerrilla ambush. There was an early attempt by
U.S. forces to disarm factional forces in the African nation.
That attempt, including offers to pay for weapons turned in
by Somali citizens, was never completed.
One senior U.S. defense official, who asked not to be
identified, told reporters that 1,500 U.S. troops had entered
Port-au-Prince by mid-afternoon Monday and that a total of 3,000
were expected to be there by the end of the day.
They are the vanguard of a force of some 15,000 who will
enter Haiti and fan out into other urban areas within a week.
The defense official said U.S. troops had authorization to
use deadly force if necessary and would confiscate weapons if
they were used to threaten American soldiers.
He said the troops would protect Americans, other foreigners
and ``designated Haitians'' such as high level supporters of
ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
``But we are not going to hand out traffic tickets or worry
about who steals the bicycles,'' he said.
Perry said U.S. troops, including members of the Army's 10th
Mountain Division who swept into Port-au-Prince airport on
helicopters from the aircraft carrier Eisenhower Monday, would
not be left vulnerable to sniping and other violence.
The Eisenhower and some 20 other American warships,
including the carrier America, were also sailing off Haiti.
``Nothing we do today will be based on trust,'' Perry said
on the ABC ``Good Morning America'' program. ``It will be based
on our ability to carry out anything we do,'' he said of
Sunday's agreement struck between a U.S. delegation headed by
former President Jimmy Carter and Haitian military leaders.
The deal called for the Haitian leaders to step aside next
month, opening the way for the return of Aristide.
Perry said U.S. forces would be prepared to respond to
sniping and to any lawlessness and violence.
The Pentagon has already called 1,600 reserve and National
Guard forces to duty to support the regular troops in Haiti in
areas ranging from air traffic control to military police.
The first of up to 14 military cargo ships with equipment
ranging from armored personnel carriers to water purifyers are
expected to begin arriving in Haiti this week to supply troops
from the United States and more than 20 other countries who have
promised to take part in a Haiti multi-national force.
Shalikashvili said U.S. forces would remain in Haiti for at
least ``several months'' to ensure order for Aristide's return,
but the Pentagon take care to avoid ``mission creep''.
That means the mission would not be allowed to expand to an
attempt to completely rebuild Haiti, a problem that plagued the
U.S. operation in Somalia.