NATION/WORLD UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Tuesday, September 20, 1994
5A
Haiti's future still in crucial stages
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — By air and sea, U.S. troops swept peacefully into Haiti on Monday to help usher in a new dawn of democracy after a long night of dictatorship in this poor, backward land.
The first GIs dropping in by helicopter at Port-au-Prince airport met no resistance. Down at the harbor, jubilant Haitians elambered over fences to welcome other arriving soldiers.
"We're free! We're free!" one man shouted.
"The mission still has risks," President Clinton said at a White House news conference.
Day 1 in Haiti
Although Haiti's military chiefs, by pledging to surrender power, kept the Americans from shooting their way in, a key uncertainty clings to Sunday's last-minute deal: Will next month's promised transition back to an elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, take place without new turmoil and bloodsed?
But the Americans still faced some tough challenges.
Highlights of the first day of U.S. military intervention in Healt:
Harbor secured:
By Coast Guard cutter, two
U.S. warships
Airport secured:
Airport secured:
Black Hawks, Cobras from warships deliver troops
Dom. Rep.
Negotiations:
Reld commander Gen. Henry Shelton negotiates change of control with Lt. Gen. Raoul Cedras
Hai
ti
Port-au Prince Bay
6,000 to 8,000 troops as well as vehicles,arms,food medicine to arrive by day's end; people in countryside told of coalition's arrival
Logistics:
Port-au-Prince
Port-au-Prince (population: about 500,000)
Carter brokers last-minute deal with Haiti
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Former President Jimmy Carter could feel peace slipping from his grasp when Brig. Gen. Philippe Biamby walked into Haiti's military headquarters with a cellular telephone and bad news: American invasion forces were on the wav.
The Haitians thought they were tricked, that the Carter team's negotiations were only a diversion to keep them occupied while U.S. troops pounced. "We saw the entire agreement coming apart," Carter said yesterday.
So did President Clinton, who wanted the negotiating team cleared out of Haiti before his invasion force arrived Sunday night. "I, frankly, had come to the conclusion that we were not going to reach an agreement," he told reporters.
Clinton played a dangerous game of
diplomatic chicken — all at once controlling warplanes in the sky and negotiators on the ground. Carter stubbornly refused to forsake talks for war, pleading for just a little more time.
Clinton hesitated. "This is uncomfortable for me," he replied, "I'm going to have to order you out of there in 30 minutes. You've got to get out!"
The warplanes were closing in on Haiti when Carter finally engineered a deal. As a result, U.S. troops landed yesterday without drawing a shot.
The story behind how he brokered the deal and how Clinton walked to the precipice of a military strike is a tale of cliffhanger diplomacy.
Almost immediately after the speech, Clinton agreed to send Carter, retired Gen. Colin Powell and
It began Thursday, moments after Clinton told the nation that he had exhausted diplomatic efforts to remove Haiti's dictators peacefully.
Sen. Sam Num, D-Ga., to Haiti in one last-ditch effort at negotiating. Their mission: persuade the military leaders to leave the country and avert an invasion. Their deadline: noon Sunday.
The team arrived at midday Saturday, commencing an exhausting 22 hours of negotiations during a day and a half.
The third meeting with military leader Lt. Gen. Raoul Cedras had just gotten under way when, a thousand nules away, Clinton agreed to send off plane-loads of paratroopers for the invasion. It took only two words: "Pack 'em."
The negotiators persuaded Cedras to go to the presidential palace and meet with President Emile Jonassaint. The president was told about Clinton's demand for a deadline, and finally, Jonassaint spoke "Isaytoyou that we'll have peace, not war," Carter quoted him as saying.