Military’s Hands Can’t Be Tied : Learning lessons from Beirut and Somalia

The loss of life was tragic, of course--10 Haitian policemen killed over the weekend in a gun battle with U.S. Marines at a police station in Cap Haitien. But U.S. troops cannot operate under restrictive and rigid rules of engagement that reduce them to sitting ducks. It is to the credit of the Clinton Administration that the rules are flexible.

The United States learned its lesson in Somalia. The rules were more restrictive in that East African nation because the mission was different. U.S. troops, and soldiers from other countries, flooded into Somalia to stop the starving. That compassionate and humanitarian effort evolved, with little logic or forethought, into a nation-building mission, even though the U.S. military had neither the clout nor commitment to get such a job done.

Beirut, too, offered the lesson. It was a great mistake in 1982-83 to force U.S. troops to tiptoe around in Lebanon’s political and religious civil war. Eventually 241 Marines were killed in a terrorist car-bomb attack. Soon afterward, U.S. troops were withdrawn. This is the ghost haunting President Clinton now.

U.S. troops are in Haiti to restore democracy, establish security and encourage stability so the legally elected government can function. They must disarm Haitian police officers, soldiers and the so-called civilian attaches. The gun buy-back program announced Monday by Defense Secretary William J. Perry will help.

The troops cannot be expected to repair the frayed institutions of democracy, rebuild the dysfunctional infrastructure or undo decades of class warfare, corruption and poverty. But they can be asked to create a secure environment before turning over responsibility to a multinational force of 6,000 troops. The U.N. troops, which will include 3,000 American men and women, are expected to leave in February, though getting out may not be as easy as getting in.

Congress, before it recesses in October, may demand a firm deadline for a U.S. withdrawal. Some Republicans want U.S. troops to come home as soon as ousted Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide returns, on or about Oct. 15, or no later than year’s end. Some Democrats insist on a March date.

Generally, the goal of a deadline is appropriate--to keep the pressure on U.S. and Haitian leaders to make progress quickly. But an absolute deadline would undermine the position of the U.S. military and allow the thugs and their wealthy backers to play for time--wait out the American troops, then return to the familiar cycle of greed, corruption and repression.

U.S. troops are on a dangerous mission in Haiti. They should get in, get the job done and get out--but not until the basic mission is accomplished and President Clinton decides to bring them home.