Seraphim
02-27-2004, 05:05 AM
OTTAWA - Defence Minister David Pratt said he has no plans to send a significant number of troops to Haiti where rebel forces have taken over much of the Caribbean country.
Pratt told reporters on Thursday that Canada's involvement in Afghanistan and Bosnia means there are few soldiers available.
Pratt also suggested previous foreign interventions have done little for Haiti because there was no long-term plan for the country's stability.
"One of the things that we've learned over the past 10 years, and we're learning it again in terms of Haiti, is that unless you go into a theatre of operations with a comprehensive view of what you want to accomplish," he told a meeting of the Conference of Defence Associations.
"You can put 2,000 troops in Haiti in the mid-'90s and be revisiting security in Haiti less than 10 years later. That's not a situation that we want to repeat," he added.
Nine soldiers have already been sent to guard the embassy and help diplomatic staff get out of the capital, Port-au-Prince, where looting has erupted and flaming barricades block the streets.
But the minister said Thursday those personnel will have a limited role.
"[They] … are not intended for a larger program of non-combatant evacuation," said Pratt.
Members of the 2nd Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, in Gagetown, N.B., along with elements of the Joint Operations Group out of Kingston, Ont., and a Hercules aircraft in Trenton, Ont., are on standby.
At a news conference in Vancouver, Prime Minister Paul Martin said that Canada would have a role in Haiti, but didn't specify what that role would be.
"It is clear that there is a responsibility and it's one that we are going to discharge," Martin told reporters.
The United States has already sent 50 marines to the Caribbean island, where a three-week old rebel uprising against President Jean-Bertrand Aristide has killed more than 70 people.
Pratt told reporters on Thursday that Canada's involvement in Afghanistan and Bosnia means there are few soldiers available.
Pratt also suggested previous foreign interventions have done little for Haiti because there was no long-term plan for the country's stability.
"One of the things that we've learned over the past 10 years, and we're learning it again in terms of Haiti, is that unless you go into a theatre of operations with a comprehensive view of what you want to accomplish," he told a meeting of the Conference of Defence Associations.
"You can put 2,000 troops in Haiti in the mid-'90s and be revisiting security in Haiti less than 10 years later. That's not a situation that we want to repeat," he added.
Nine soldiers have already been sent to guard the embassy and help diplomatic staff get out of the capital, Port-au-Prince, where looting has erupted and flaming barricades block the streets.
But the minister said Thursday those personnel will have a limited role.
"[They] … are not intended for a larger program of non-combatant evacuation," said Pratt.
Members of the 2nd Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, in Gagetown, N.B., along with elements of the Joint Operations Group out of Kingston, Ont., and a Hercules aircraft in Trenton, Ont., are on standby.
At a news conference in Vancouver, Prime Minister Paul Martin said that Canada would have a role in Haiti, but didn't specify what that role would be.
"It is clear that there is a responsibility and it's one that we are going to discharge," Martin told reporters.
The United States has already sent 50 marines to the Caribbean island, where a three-week old rebel uprising against President Jean-Bertrand Aristide has killed more than 70 people.