Keeping alive the threat of U.S. military action in Haiti, President Clinton said Tuesday, "I'm not ruling out any option." He said Haiti's military rulers should get the message: "It's time for them to go."
Clinton said the first step is to tighten economic sanctions on Haiti to bring pressure on the forces that ousted democratically elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide."The military leaders of Haiti have abused their authority," Clinton said, pausing briefly to talk with reporters as he left the White House for a foreign policy speech in Atlanta.
Officials refused to confirm a Washington Post report that the administration is considering sending armed military trainers to Haiti. But for weeks, officials have refused to rule out military action, trying to keep up pressure on the outlaw regime. And congressional support for military action is increasing.
It remains unclear whether signs of increased administration attention to the military option mark a turning point, or whether they are merely intended to scare Haiti's generals into surrendering power.
In any case, the focus this week is on the United Nations, where the administration is pushing for tightened international sanctions against Haiti.
Clinton said Haiti's military leaders are killing innocent civilians who are not involved in political life. He said the United States and the rest of the world are outraged.
"And we've tried other initiatives and they have not worked," the president acknowledged. "We have done our best to work through this, and the things we have done have not worked, so we are now doing this sanctions regime as recommended by President Aristide and others.
"But we're not ruling out anything."
Invoking Al Gore's 1992 campaign slogan about the Bush administration, Clinton said the same message now applies to Haiti's military rules. "It's time for them to go."
Anthony Lake, Clinton's national security adviser, said the new sanctions would be much stronger and would be targeted specifically at Haiti's military leaders.
"We believe they will have a significant impact on them," said Lake, who accompanied Clinton.
"We are very serious about it," Lake said. "These are going to be very, very serious sanctions."
Meanwhile, former President Bush said it's time for "a significant shift in U.S. policy towards Haiti," including abandoning support for the return of Aristide. (Story on A6.)
White House Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers was asked Tuesday if the public would be told in advance of the likelihood of military action.
"That's a little far down the way, but we always said we'll act consistent with the War Powers in terms of notifying Congress - just as a general statement," she said.
According to some analysts, if tightened sanctions fail to dislodge the Haitian leaders, military force may be the only way to spare the Haitian people a humanitarian nightmare even more severe than the one they are experiencing now.