THE MICHIGAN DAILY, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 1994 Pan e7 THE ICHGAN AIL THUSDA. SETEMER 8 194 P~ - Advisers urge Clinton to set date for Haiti invasion The Washington Post WASHINGTON - President Clinton yesterday heard appeals from senior foreign policy advisers to set a public deadline for U.S.military action in Haiti, and to send a personal emis- sary there with a final demand that its military leaders voluntarily step down or be ousted. Clinton received the advice at a three-hour session with his top national security advisers that an official called serious "endgame planning" for an in- vasion of the Caribbean island nation. The meeting, which focused primarily on Haiti but also considered other top- ics, was Clinton's first order of busi- ness after his return from a 12-day vacation at Martha's Vineyard. On Tuesday, many of the same advisers met at the White House to debate decisions Clinton must make AP PHOTO leading up to military action in Haiti .th that virtually all of the president's aides now describe as inevitable this fall. The session came after Secretary of ises State Warren Christopher repeated the ad tinicrtn' xxniatha at' they do not leave voluntarily. "One way or another, the de facto govern- ment is going to be leaving," Christo- phersaidatthe StateDepartment. "Their days are definitely numbered." At issue, officials said, is not whether to send troops to Haiti but what steps should lead up to such an action. The questions include how to handle con- sultations with Congress, whether and when to send an emissary to Haiti be- forehand, whether to set a public dead- line, and Clinton's personal involve- ment in making the case to the Ameri- can people for the need for an invasion. The White House described the ses- sion as a review of the status of the planning on Haiti, including military planning, and said no final decisions were made. But officials pointed to the timing - Clinton's first order of busi- ness-and his attendance at the session to suggest the seriousness of the issue. While the issues of sending an em- issary to Haiti and of setting a final public deadline were discussed, offi- cials said, decisions were not made. A senior official said that the public impression relayed last week that mili- tary action would not come until a token contingent of Caribbean soldiers is trained, a process that was said to take until mid-October, is "not neces- sarily the operative timetable." The official said some of Clinton's advisers are arguing that conditions for average Haitians are deteriorating so severely because of the international trade embargo, while military leaders show no sign of budging, that "there is no reason to wait really any longer." But the official said that the timing issue is not settled, and that the State Department and others are arguing for more time to enlist international par- ticipation in the invasion force and the United Nations force that is to occupy Haiti and help maintain peace after the restoration of exiled president Jean- Bertrand Aristide in office. Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados and Belize have agreed to contribute 266 troops to go to Haiti following a U.S. invasion by a force of about 10,000. The Caribbean troops began training yesterday at a U.S. Navy base in Puerto Rico, and other partici- pants are being actively solicited. Russian Defense Minister Pavel Grachev, left, shakes hands with U.S. Army 3rd Infantry Division Lt. Scott Mayla during Grachev's inspection of joint military exercises between the two forces in Totsk, Russia yesterday. ussian, U.S. forces to conduct joint military exerc The Washington Post TOTSKOYE TESTING GROUND, Russia - Russian Defense Minister Pavel Grachev said yesterday he plans to send 500 Russian soldiers to the United States for a joint military exercise next year, after what he called the success of the first such operation here this week. Grachev flatly rejected criticism from Russian national- ists opposed to closer working ties to the U.S. military and *rushed aside doubts from lower-ranking Russian officers. He said the scale of next year's training should be about twice that of the current exercise and that "even more" soldiers should participate together in Russia in 1996. About 250 American soldiers, operating here in Russia's heartland for the first time, concluded the principal part of theirjointexercise with the Russian army, aimed at improv- ing peacekeeping operations. The soldiers of the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division, based in Germany, and the Russian 27th Guard Motorized Rifle *)ivision, which not long ago was based justacross a hostile border from the 3rd Infantry in east Germany, are scheduled to play sports and hold picnics here today. The Americans will then begin to pull out. U.S. Maj. Gen. Leonard D. Holder Jr., who shared command of the exercise with his Russian counterpart, said the "operations have proceeded successfully." Grachev called the exercise "deeply symbolic" and a "vivid example of new relations" between the two countries. Many Russian Communists and nationalists have at- tacked the joint maneuvers as the first step in an American lot to invade Russia and take advantage of its weakness. Russian PresidentBoris Yeltsin, bowing to nationalistop- position, was forced last spring to postpone the historic exercise, originally scheduled forJuly. Grachev's proposal to expand joint peacekeeping training is likely to arouse more anger. But yesterday the defense minister attacked those who seek to rekindle Cold War-style confrontation, saying the Iron Curtain had only caused Russia to fall years behind the developed world. "And if we're going to keep looking for the image of an enemy in every state," Grachev warned, "we're going to isolate ourselves, further stunting our development and falling even more years behind." Grachev said it was symbolic that the first U.S.-Russian army exercise took place in Totskoye, a testing range on the steppe 700 miles southeast of Moscow where in 1954 the Soviet Union exploded an above-ground nuclear bomb, with many soldiers and civilians nearby. This "barbaric act, "Grachev said, envisioned "the future destruction of hu- manity." "Now, 40 years later, we are conducting a peacekeeping exercise at the very same site, with the aim that such a monstrous thing won't happen again," he said. In a scene that struck many Cold War veterans as improbable, Grachev, a former paratrooper and Afghan war veteran, played the role of professor as Holder acted as student and reported on the peacekeeping exercise. The defense minister found fault with some aspects of the operation, but said that overall he gave Holder "a solid mark." Asked how it felt to be judged by a Russian general, Holder said, "Feels great, under the circumstances." Before Grachev's arrival, U.S. and Russian officers here said the timing and scale of any follow-on joint exercise remain in doubt, partly because ofRussia's financial troubles. Yesterday morning, Col. Gen. Eduard Vorobyo, first deputy commander of the Russian army, said, "It would be better for us, and more convenient, if we had a simulated computer exercise." But Grachev swept aside such caution, saying this week's experience showed it is "necessary and useful" to conduct more exercises, and on "a larger scale." While U.S. and Russian interests will not always coincide, he said, the two countries will continue to share an interest in maintain- ing global peace. manyladons warningsn tea a s military leaders will soon be evicted if Fi Arbor Farmns Natural Foods Market * The freshest fruits & vegetables * Deli with homemade soups, salads, & fresh juice . All-natural groceries & household supplies . Fresh, additive-free beef, chicken, & pork * Full-service vitamin & supplement department * Senior discount available every day * Open daily 9am-9pm, Sunday 1lam-6pm 'pit 2215 W. Stadium near Liberty 996-8111 sco'ka-M pSdabz-- j Serving Ann Arbor since 1979-Locally Owned I I :