04 March 2004
Pentagon Reports 1,000 U.S. Marines Now in Haiti
Defense Department Report, March 4: Operational update on Haiti, Iraq
Army Brigadier General David Rodriguez says 1,000 U.S. Marines are now operating in Haiti along with some 600 Canadian, French and Chilean troops.
Rodriguez, who is deputy director of operations for the Joint Staff, told reporters at the Pentagon March 4 that the Marines are not in Haiti to conduct law enforcement operations. "The Haitian police are able to accomplish law enforcement tasks at this point in time, and we're going to support them and continue to help them do that," he said, noting that looting and crime had diminished since earlier in the week.
The military officer said the Marines are in the country to secure key sites such as the international airport in Port-au-Prince, the presidential palace, and the U.S. embassy. They are promoting the constitutional political process and creating conditions for the arrival of the United Nations multinational force, Rodriguez said. They may also help if humanitarian assistance is needed.
"Our forces are well prepared to carry out this mission," he said, "and we continue to monitor the situation as it develops."
Rodriguez was also questioned about developments in Iraq. In particular, he was asked about a March 4 CBSNEWS.com report that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi --- a Jordanian alleged to have been connected to recent bomb attacks in Iraq --- may be dead. Rodriguez said there is no direct evidence that the man is either dead or alive, but the assumption is that he is alive.
Zarqawi is one of several professional terrorists who have been sought since the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States. Army General John Abizaid, who is in charge of the U.S. Central Command, told reporters in Washington March 3 that terrorists like Zarqawi, former Saddam Hussein extremists, al-Qaeda operatives and members of Ansar al-Islam are trying to promote civil war in Iraq.
Rodriguez said Zarqawi has a strong link to the senior leadership of al-Qaeda. Asked to explain the link, he said it includes communications, tactics, techniques and procedures used to spread the ideology of terrorism.
There have also been recent press reports that a letter attributed to Zarqawi that surfaced in February may not have been authentic. Pentagon spokesman Lawrence DiRita, who briefed with Rodriguez, said those individuals in the U.S. government who must verify such communications have found it to be authentic.
Asked about Pakistani assistance in hunting for terrorists along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, DiRita said the Pakistani government has been aggressive in its pursuit of terrorists and its army has been "very effective." Pakistan has been very cooperative in pursuing Taliban and al-Qaeda members, he added.
Asked about the quality of intelligence available to hunt down terrorists in Iraq, DiRita said the intelligence that is being provided to coalition forces by Iraqis "has greatly sharpened" now that 200,000 Iraqis are working as part of the overall security force.
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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