U.S. to Send 2,000 Troops Off Haiti : Caribbean: The Pentagon’s decision doubles the number of forces in the region. Soldiers would act only as occupying force.

In a further sign of U.S. intentions in Haiti, the Pentagon on Friday decided to dispatch 2,000 Army infantry soldiers to within eyesight of the island’s coastline in a move that doubles the number of U.S. combat forces in the region.

The soldiers, part of the 10th Mountain Division from Ft. Drum, N.Y., are to leave Norfolk, Va., on Wednesday aboard the aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower and reach waters near Haiti within five days.

Sources stressed here Friday night that the troops would not be part of the landing force, should an invasion take place. Rather, they would act as part of the multinational occupying force that would help restore order once the Haitian military chief, Lt. Gen. Raoul Cedras, is ousted and deposed Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide is returned to power.

“These troops are going in no matter what,” said one senior Pentagon official. “The only uncertainty now is how Cedras leaves, whether he steps down or gets stepped on.”

The 10th Mountain soldiers will boost to nearly 4,000 the number of U.S. troops stationed near Haiti. On Aug. 17, 1,800 U.S. Marines landed in Puerto Rico, where they have been conducting exercises to prepare for either an invasion of Haiti or for assignments as part of the occupying force there.

“These Marines can evacuate Americans or invade or help in mop-up activities,” one U.S. military official said Friday. “They can do anything.”

The 10th Mountain soldiers are specifically designed as a unit trained to fight in difficult terrain. They have a long history dating back to campaigns during World War II that helped break the German resistance in northern Italy.

More recently, the 10th Mountain was used to help bring in first-aid supplies to war-torn Somalia.

According to Pentagon officials, two Navy ships--the Eisenhower and the Mount Whitney--were ordered Friday to return to the Norfolk naval base after leaving Wednesday for long-planned joint exercises in the Atlantic Ocean.

They are to arrive in Norfolk today and Monday, sources said, and will be prepared for the Caribbean mission. The Eisenhower will be reconfigured to carry the soldiers, while the Mount Whitney will be used as a command and control ship.

The ships will depart Wednesday for Haiti, where sources said they are to be in place by Sept. 19.

“They’ll be right offshore within eyesight of the beach,” said one senior U.S. military leader. “It will be like if you looked out your living room window and saw company pulling up the driveway.”

The source, who earlier this week said that he thought an invasion was a sure thing, said Friday that he now believes Cedras will capitulate.

“We’re sending a loud and clear message that says we’re coming in either way. And my bet is that Cedras is going to get the hint and be gone.”

In a second move Friday bolstering the U.S. military intentions in Haiti, the Pentagon ordered the preparation of five more large military cargo ships to be used by a U.S. fleet in the threatened invasion.

The move brings to 12 the number of such ships now being activated to carry heavy weapons, supplies and troops to Haiti.

The 12 cargo ships, which are stationed at various ports along the Eastern and Southern seaboards, have been ordered to be ready next week to load military weapons. The ships are manned by civilian crews and are under contract to the Navy. They can be activated on short notice; all are nearly 700 feet long and can travel at high speed.

In addition, the Navy already has nine warships near Haiti, along with the 1,800 Marines. On Friday, the Marine detachment practiced storming beaches amid grenade and mortar shell fire at Vieques, Puerto Rico, as part of a practice invasion.

Most speculation has been that any invasion by 10,000 troops, most of them from the United States, would occur between late September and mid-October.