Task Force 125, the 20,000-member U.S. invasion force for Haiti, has so far been engaged in an elaborate bit of theater. By advertising the firepower being assembled to take on Haiti’s scruffy security forces, President Clinton clearly hoped to send the military junta packing without firing a shot. But in case Clinton does finally pull the trigger for an invasion, the Pentagon has gone to extraordinary lengths to hold down the cost in American blood. Once considered a job for marines backed up by a contingent of paratroopers, the assault now involves some of the mightiest combat systems in the arsenal. Indeed, the sheer size and complexity of the prospective operation may pose bigger risks than the Haitian army.
Nine U.S. Navy warships and a 1,800-member Marine amphibious task force stood off Haiti last week. The hospital ship USS Comfort was steaming from Norfolk to Guantanamo, Cuba, prepared to treat any casualties. And the navy readied 12 mammoth cargo vessels to take in heavy military equipment after the initial assault. The “ro-ro” ships – roll on, roll off – essentially function as floating parking lots.
The assault troops themselves are gearing up, too. Marines aboard the USS Wasp staged what Pentagon sources described as a final dress rehearsal last week on Vieques island, off Puerto Rico. Newsweek has learned that units from the army’s 82d Airborne Division were ordered to conduct emergency exercises at Fort Bragg, N.C., over the weekend; the division’s volunteer reservists, trained to provide temporary municipal functions like policing, were ordered to report Sunday. At nearby Pope Air Force Base, C-141 and C-130 cargo planes were being outfitted to transport cargo and troops. “We’re going, but nobody’s happy about it,” says one army Special Operations officer. The aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower was sent to Norfolk, Va., to pick up combat elements of the army’s 10th Mountain Division; in a departure from tradition it would serve as a giant helicopter pad to ferry them to the mainland during an assault. The USS Mount Whitney was designated the command ship, and the USS Whidbey Island was shifted from rescue duty in the Florida Straits to Haiti. That gave the marines eight giant hovercraft, each capable of carrying 75 tons of armored vehicles and troops directly onto beaches.
The timing is critical. Paratroopers prefer to jump under faint moonlight so that they can both see the ground and avoid presenting a silhouette against a silver sky. (Jumping under a moonless sky virtually guarantees more broken bones on landings.) The best moon conditions will be early this week, during the last week of this month or after the first week of October. The weather, too, could limit the invasion force’s options. In the fall, the Caribbean regularly whips up wild storms.
The initial assault depends on a sea calm enough for small craft and navy SEALs. Late at night at least eight 12-man Green Beret A-Teams will infiltrate and come out of hiding to block Haitian military traffic on key roads, pinpoint targets and seize strategic sites such as garrisons and radio stations. After the initial targets are secured, there will be a massive, combined assault by marines and army rangers and paratroopers, while commandos go after the junta leaders (map).
Pentagon planners expect little resistance from the Haitian security forces. “There will be more Haitians hurt by the butts of rifles the soldiers throw down than by Americans firing on them,” says a former U.S. diplomat to the region. At most, 400 of Haiti’s 7,000 troops have the training and heavy arms needed to put up much of a fight, say Pentagon sources. But the risks are still substantial. Accidents and “friendly fire” shootings will be hard to avoid as the sky over Port-au-Prince swarms with helicopters and members of different service units converge on the capital. Although the towns will be quickly secured, scattered resistance in the countryside is a given. And as soon as the junta is in flight, the slums could explode. “You’re going to see a wave of looting and vengeance,” says retired Marine Gen. Bernard Trainor. To maintain order, the Pentagon added 8,000 men to the original invasion force. These troops will be vulnerable to cheap terrorism: the hand grenade thrown into a crowded bar, the GI picked off by a sniper.
Within 10 days of the invasion, the Pentagon hopes to begin turning police work over to others. Some 300 military police from Jamaica, Barbados, Belize, and Trinidad and Tobago are training with U.S. forces in Puerto Rico. Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines will also send small contingents, bringing the total to about 1,000. And Haitian refugees in Guantanamo are being recruited to serve as temporary policemen. Still, the invasion scenario calls for up to 700 U.S. reservists to stay in Haiti for six months to help with government services. The Pentagon wants its force to stay no more than a few months before it is replaced by 6,000 U.N. peacekeepers. But half of that force would be U.S. soldiers. Much as Clinton would like to, there simply is no way to cut Americans’ risk to zero – except by staying out.
If the United States does participate in an invasion of Haiti, what do you think is the main reason?
13% U.S. interests are threatened 41% Human-rights abuses are severe 32% Clinton will have political problems if he doesn’t carry out his threat to invade The Newsweek Poll, Sept. 8-9, 1994
PHOTO: Good to go: GIs from the army’s 82d Airborne Division train at Fort Bragg for urban warfare
Concerned about the possibility of civil unrest, the Pentagon plans to pour in soldiers from offshore after an initial assault.
At least eight Green Beret teams will sneak in at night to bloxk key roads, pinpoint targets for the 82d Airborne and seize key garrisons, radio stations and other strategic sites. A battalion of 900 army Rangers parachutes in to secure both airports. Some 300 navy SEALS seize port facilities and prepare them for U.S. amphibious docking ships.
Commandos launch snatch operations to capture General Cedras and his senior officers. The 82d Airborne follows, C-130s land with equipment and amphibious ships launch hovercraft carrying armored vehicles and personnel carriers. Additional force may come from military cargo ships, which carry tanks and supplies.
U.S. forces fan out to secure key towns, probably within 24 hours. Expanding control over the rest of the country may take 10 days.
