Military Intervention

WASHINGTON -- When the United Nations' expanded trade embargo against Haiti clicks into effect at midnight tonight, President Clinton will have just one remaining option for ousting the island's dictators if they remain defiant: military intervention.As the deadline for the ruling generals' departure approaches, there is no sign that they will buckle under the latest ultimatum to step down or that increased economic punishment will eventually force them out."I think the embargo is not going to work, and we will see that very soon," said Larry Birns, director of the Washington-based Council on Hemispheric Affairs.

Whether Chuck Hagel and John Brennan are the ideal men to lead the Pentagon and CIA remains to be seen. We need the exercise of a through vetting in Senate confirmation hearings, and certainly an examination of the nominees' past statements and actions is warranted. But the objections raised about Mr. Hagel so far, and to a lesser extent, Mr. Brennan, sound a lot more like an attempt to score political points than an effort to get at the key questions that will face the leaders of two of the nation's most crucial agencies.

PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti -- If the Rev. Jesse Jackso controlled U.S. foreign policy, he says he would leaflet the island of Haiti and offer the military government eight days to return power to the Rev. Jean-Bertrand Aristide. If it refused, he would seriously consider military action."Haiti's military is not a formidable opponent," Mr. Jackson said during a weekend visit to this desperately poor country. "But I don't think it will come to that."If real pressure is applied, if the gas that is used by Haiti's military stops flowing, and the U.S. and the U.N. express their resolve unequivocally, then I think changes can be made without military intervention.

What happens when a brutal regime gets replaced by an alternative and largely unknown entity? Exhibit A: Libya. Shortly after Moammar Gadhafi bumped his head on a bullet, the "rebels" took over and promptly declared Sharia law. It's a start -- I guess. Though a start of what, no one's really quite sure. This week, a new set of Libyan "rebels" has emerged to replace the old ones, seizing control of Tripoli airport and diverting flights. It's just like the game Whac-a-Mole: Knock one down, and five more pop up. They may sort themselves out and gradually get the hang of democracy, or they may just remain a set of tribal factions fighting for supremacy from now until eternity.

ZAGREB, Croatia -- The intense, white-haired Bosnian political leader has none of the doubts expressed throughout Europe and the United States about military intervention in his country's war with Serbia."

Feb. 15--1933: President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt escaped an assassination attempt in Miami that killed Chicago Mayor Anton J. Cermak. 1989: The Soviet Union announced that the last of its troops had left Afghanistan, after more than nine years of military intervention.

A special session of Haiti's parliament called to pass an amnesty law ended after less than two hours without any vote being taken.A gunman fired on a crowd of some 200 Aristide loyalists as they marched toward an office of a paramilitary group in Port-au-Prince. One man was hit in the chest and critically wounded.A U.S. House committee approved legislation setting a March 1 cutoff date for U.S. military intervention in Haiti.

In SARAJEVO, the Bosnian government and rebel Ser military commanders signed a new cease-fire agreement covering the whole of Bosnia-Herzegovina from noon (6 a.m. EDT) Sunday. The agreement was signed after talks between the two rival military chiefs and the commander of U.N. troops in Bosnia, Gen. Philippe Morillon.Earlier, President Alija Izetbegovic blocked U.N. troops from heading to the embattled Muslim enclave of Zepa, saying Serb conditions for their presence would amount to Bosnian surrender.

Maybe we should have given the food to the media and le them take it to Somalia. It seems like they outnumber our troops anyway.On second thought that wouldn't have worked.The photographers would have taken pictures of the food. And the anchormen would have eaten it.So I guess we need the military after all. Though they did seem like props on the first night they waded ashore at Mogadishu.Navy Seals, heavily armed and their faces covered in camouflage paint, were surrounded by TV crews wearing shorts and T-shirts.

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Kweisi Mfume of Baltimore declared yesterday that President Clinton's threat to send U.S. troops to Haiti "should have been there all along," given the violence being inflicted by that nation's military rulers.Charging that Haitians are "being hacked to death and fed to animals" while the United States futilely calls for change, Mr. Mfume, chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, was among several members of Maryland's delegation who applauded Mr. Clinton's newly hardened stance.

The Democratic congressional candidates in Maryland's 6th District largely agree on major issues facing the country: They all favor immigration reform, more infrastructure spending to help boost the economy and a woman's right to have an abortion. But despite broadly similar positions, a few subtle differences emerged at a forum in Gaithersburg on Sunday, where several hundred voters turned out to hear the five candidates speak. They offered different answers on how to handle Iran, for instance, and what should be done to address ethical lapses in Washington.

President Obama's explanation for his decision to participate in the attacks on Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's forces will likely not satisfy his critics on either side, and it certainly came much later than it should have. But it did present a cohesive explanation for why we intervened and a reasonable framework for decisions about whether we will do so in other conflicts. The president said the U.S. acted to prevent a looming humanitarian disaster if pro-Gadhafi forces had been allowed to crush the rebel stronghold of Benghazi and methodically slaughter thousands of the city's inhabitants, as the dictator had boasted he would do. Mr. Obama also noted the destabilizing effect a flood of refugees across Libya's borders would have on the fragile democratic transitions in neighboring Egypt and Tunisia, as well as the lessons other tyrants in region might draw from seeing the U.S. sit idly by as the Libyan government massacred its own citizens.

When the Pasha of Tripoli authorized Barbary pirates to hold ships and crews of the infant United States for ransom in the early nineteenth century, President Thomas Jefferson responded by ordering the U.S. Navy to shell his capital, then he sent in the Marines. However, that may not be the wisest course for the U.S. regarding the current situation in Libya, where the aging dictator Moammar Gadhafi is locked in a desperate bid to retain power in the face of an armed popular uprising.

CHICAGO -- During the Democratic debate in South Carolina, I heard something I never expected to hear: Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton coming out against U.S. military intervention. At least I think she was coming out against U.S. military intervention. Asked if U.S. troops should be sent to Darfur, the New York Democrat made a valiant effort to dodge the question by declaiming about sanctions, divestment and U.N. peacekeepers. But when pressed, "How about American troops on the ground?" she finally said, a bit awkwardly, "American ground troops I don't think belong in Darfur at this time."

Feb. 15--1933: President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt escaped an assassination attempt in Miami that killed Chicago Mayor Anton J. Cermak. 1989: The Soviet Union announced that the last of its troops had left Afghanistan, after more than nine years of military intervention.

WASHINGTON - The United States would intervene militarily to defend Taiwan if the island were attacked by China, President Bush said yesterday, making what foreign policy analysts said was the most explicit U.S. promise of armed assistance for Taipei in more than two decades. Later, the president seemed to soften his pledge, denying that there was any change in U.S. policy and describing American military intervention as an option and not a guaranteed result of an attack on Taiwan. Even so, the comments added up to a hardening in U.S. rhetoric toward Beijing, if not a new policy, raising the oft-feared but seldom-discussed prospect of a U.S.-China war at a time when relations between the countries already are at a low point.

Paris. The struggle to obtain a cease-fire in Sarajevo has made people both in Washington and the European capitals think seriously about military intervention in Yugoslavia.This thinking has been more serious in Washington than in Western Europe -- the place that ought to be serious about this crisis -- because Washington has the habit of action. It remains all but impossible to get agreement among the West Europeans on matters so drastic as military action in what formerly was Yugoslavia.

Today in history: Feb. 15 In 1898, the U.S. battleship Maine mysteriously blew up in Havana Harbor, killing more than 260 crew members and bringing the United States closer to war with Spain. In 1564, Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei was born in Pisa. In 1820, American suffragist Susan B. Anthony was born in Adams, Mass. In 1879, President Hayes signed a bill allowing female attorneys to argue cases before the Supreme Court. In 1933, President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt escaped an assassination attempt in Miami that killed Chicago Mayor Anton J. Cermak.

Today in history: Feb. 15 In 1898, the U.S. battleship Maine mysteriously blew up in Havana Harbor, killing more than 260 crew members and bringing the United States closer to war with Spain. In 1564, Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei was born in Pisa. In 1820, American suffragist Susan B. Anthony was born in Adams, Mass. In 1879, President Hayes signed a bill allowing female attorneys to argue cases before the Supreme Court. In 1933, President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt escaped an assassination attempt in Miami that killed Chicago Mayor Anton J. Cermak.

WASHINGTON -- One moment, the tired, beleaguered and imperiled president was imploring a Republican lawmaker to help him avoid impeachment. The next moment, the commander-in-chief, flags perched behind him, was addressing the nation from the Oval Office, announcing "a strong, sustained series of airstrikes against Iraq."The "split-screen presidency" that has characterized the past few days and weeks at the White House could not have been more evident yesterday as President Clinton struggled to fight both near-certain impeachment and Saddam Hussein, two fearsome and bedeviling nemeses.