An invasion of Haiti is not inevitable but "one way or another" the military regime there will have to go, Vice President Al Gore says.
Days after a Pentagon official said U.S. soldiers would be assembled for duty in Haiti, Gore provided what might become a jus-ti-fi-ca-tion for an invasion while appearing to soften the administration's line on use of force.Haiti's military leaders must give up control, he said Sunday, because the United Nations has demanded it and the United States has an interest in seeing democracy restored and limiting the flow of Haitian refugees.
But it's not too late for the regime to exit on its own, Gore said on NBC's "Meet the Press" in a broadcast from the world population conference in Cairo.
An invasion is "not inevitable if the illegal dictators in Haiti decide to comply with the world community's wishes and demands embodied in the United Nations resolution . . . and leave of their own accord," Gore said.
The U.S. administration has long threatened intervention if the military regime did not restore the democratically elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who was ousted three years ago.
But Deputy Defense Secretary John Deutch provided a more explicit indication of U.S. intentions last week when he said some 10,000 soldiers would be sent to Haiti - either to remove the rulers or restore order if they left voluntarily.
"They're going to leave one way or another," Gore said. "The world community has long since made that clear."
Gore was asked what would justify the loss of American lives if troops were sent to Haiti.
"Haiti is right in our neighborhood," he said, "and we now have a Western Hemisphere . . . in which every country with the exception of Haiti and Cuba has a freely elected democratic government and that is important to us."
"And when there is a free, democratic election and the people choose their leaders and there is an illegal takeover where democracy is hijacked and expelled, that's important to us, especially when we're swamped with refugees as a result."
The Rev. Jesse Jackson, long an advocate of stronger action in Haiti, welcomed plans to send soldiers there.