| By Andrew Beatty
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AFP) – From an air-conditioned tent in what used to be a Port-au-Prince bus station, the mighty US military controls its 17,000 troops deployed to help Haiti’s earthquake relief, amid questions over how long they will stay.
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US Colonel Gregory Kane (L) speaks to the press at the airport in Port-au-Prince.
AFP PHOTO |
Colonel Gregory Kane paces across the tent, past rows of personnel — wearing various iterations of camouflage — who tap away at double-thick high-security laptops.
“What’s that?” he shouts to a subordinate who is monitoring developments across Port-au-Prince and beyond.
“We have a human trafficking situation at DP15,” the subordinate responds, apparently referring to one of the 16 food distribution points that US forces police for the World Food Programme.
On Saturday, desperate Haitians gathered at one of the drop-off points opposite Petionville’s cemetery, on the outskirts of the ruined capital city, Port-au-Prince.
Heavily armed US soldiers, sweating beneath bulky flak-jackets, distributed food just meters away from the cemetery’s collapsed walls, were open graves were clearly visible.
Old ladies and even young men struggled under the burning tropical sun to carry away sacks of rice to waiting tap-taps — the brightly colored collective taxis that snail through the capital’s streets.
During a visit to Port-au-Prince a day earlier former US president Bill Clinton warned that 16 supply points were not enough to supply the million residents left homeless by the 7.0-magnitude quake.
But it is far from clear that there will be more distribution points, as the battle-stretched US military considers how long it can keep a large contingent of troops in Haiti while wars in Afghanistan and Iraq rage on.
Kane, who previously entered Haiti in 1994 with US special forces as part of Operation Uphold Democracy — a move to support then-president Jean-Bertrand Aristide — said the United States would stay the course.
But he also said it was likely the armed mission could be over by early March.
Asked how long the mission would last, Kane replied: “The military portion of the operation, if you follow historical trends, probably 45 to 50 days.
“Then you’ll see a precipitous drop off and you’ll probably see other agencies, other activities, both international and US, to step forward and take on more roles.”
The US military has already reduced its presence in the Haiti in recent weeks, as teams trained to deal with the immediate aftermath of the quake left the country.
On Saturday there were around 17,000 military personnel stationed in country or off its coast, down from a high of 22,000. That figure is revised day-to-day.
If the future of US troops in Haiti is unclear, their role has also been the subject of intense debate.
US troops are authorized to shoot to kill to protect themselves or others, and serve at the invitation of the Haitian government. But their chain of command is more complex.
“The US forces that are on the ground here are here on a humanitarian assistance mission, security is the primary responsibility lies with MINUSTAH,” Kane said, referring to the UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti. “They have been doing a phenomenal job.”
Kane insists that the US security role is limited to protecting “high value targets.” But more than three weeks after the quake, in Haiti that still includes a sack of rice. (Caribnet) |
