Military

DATE=2/27/04

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=PENTAGON/HAITI (L ONLY)

NUMBER=2-313609

BYLINE=ALEX BELIDA

DATELINE=PENTAGON

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: As the unrest continues in Haiti, U-S military officials are preparing for a variety of contingencies. But as V-O-A Correspondent Alex Belida reports, the Pentagon is stressing no decisions have yet been made.

TEXT: For the moment, the Bush administration's emphasis is on a political settlement of the crisis and the only special military force sent to Haiti has been a 50-member Marine security team assigned to protect the U-S embassy.

Beyond that, defense officials say no additional forces have even been placed on stand-by for a possible deployment to the troubled Caribbean island.

However the officials say that among the military options under consideration is the dispatch of a three-ship amphibious group that could carry some two thousand Marines.

A senior Marine commander last week told members of a Marine Expeditionary Unit stationed in [the southern state of] North Carolina they might be needed to respond to the Haiti crisis.

The Marines could deploy aboard the U-S-S Saipan and two other vessels.

The Saipan is capable of carrying a variety of helicopters as well as vertical-takeoff Harrier attack aircraft.

The helicopters could be useful for evacuations of embassy personnel and others -- especially if conventional aircraft are unable to land at Haitian airports.

The ships could also assist in collecting people who might flee the island by sea.

(Signed)

NEB/BEL/RH/FC