As long-chaotic Haiti teeters on the brink of total anarchy amid spasms of uncontrolled violence, the Biden administration is considering sending in the Marines.
The State Department is requesting an elite security team of Marines be sent to Haiti, Marine Corps Times reported, citing a defense official it did not name.
“Deploying a FAST platoon is one option at the DoD’s disposal should the DoS request assistance with security at the U.S. Embassy in Port Au Prince,” Maj. Mason Englehart, a representative of Marine Corps Forces South, said Friday. Americans were urged to leave Haiti on Wednesday.
On Friday night, gangs attacked government buildings in Port-au-Prince, according to ABC.
International:
Haitian gangs launched a large-scale assault against multiple government buildings in or near downtown Port-au-Prince according to a law enforcement source who took part in the fighting.
Previous:https://t.co/vzLFHxW6Td
— Rcentrism (@rcentrism) March 9, 2024
The Presidential Palace, the Interior Ministry and a police headquarters were all attacked. ABC said witnesses reported gunfire and explosions.
The attack came after Guy Philippe, who was deported from the United States after leaving prison last year, and assisted with a 2004 coup, said he wanted to rule the island, according to Reuters.
Prime Minister Ariel Henry left the country seeking assistance to restore order but has not returned. He is reported to be in Puerto Rico.
“He should resign,” Philippe said. “I think he should stay where he is now … and let Haitians decide their fate.”
#Haitian Gangs Torch Ministry as Nation Descends Into Even More Lawlessness & Chaos.
State Of Emergency Extended.
Haitian PM Henry unable to return with main airport closed.#News #Haiti #HaitiCrisis #HaitiNews #HaitiViolence #WorldNews #AfricaNews https://t.co/KdQmCqkEFs
— (@DailyD1ss1dent) March 9, 2024
A report in The Washington Post assessing the state of Haiti’s unrest noted that bodies of those shot by gangs are now left in the street to rot, or are burned where they lay. The Post reported that a United Nations estimate says gangs control more than 80 percent of Port-au-Prince, the nation’s capital.
In the capital, the Post wrote, “Trash piled up in its slums; cholera had resurfaced. The gangs terrorized the population with systematic rape, indiscriminate kidnapping and mass killing, all with impunity.”
Attacks on prisons freed thousands of criminals leading to attacks on the main airport of Port-au-Prince and its port.
Haiti is collapsing as we speak:
• Interior Ministry on fire
• Attacks on the international airport
• Gunfights outside the Presidential Palace
• Attempted breaches of the Ministry of Education and Supreme CourtThe time for an international mission was yesterday. pic.twitter.com/BILksQVfRd
— Kareem Rifai 🌐 (@KareemRifai) March 9, 2024
Thomas Shannon, a former under secretary of state, said a strongman dictator is likely to emerge.
Should the United States send troops to Haiti?
“If we’re not careful we’re going to have another brigand claiming to be the rightful leader of Haiti,” Shannon said, according to the Miami Herald. “It’s very distressing.”
Gangs are the only ones “working with completely alienated and disaffected people to address the immediacy of their concerns in a way that neither the government nor the international community can,” he said.
