KINGSTON, Jamaica - The United States and Caribbean nations Tuesday warned Haiti's military regime to leave now or be invaded.
"The time for action has arrived," says deputy U.S. Defense Secretary John Deutch.
Leaders of 11 Caribbean nations promised to provide a 266-troop force for an invasion.
Deutch says U.S. forces soon will begin training the allies.
The warning follows Sunday's assassination of the Rev. Jean-Marie Vincent, an advocate of democracy.
"Our governments are equally united . . . to take all necessary means to . . . restore the democratic process in Haiti," says Erskine Sandiford, Barbados prime minister and chairman of the Caribbean security organization, CARICOM.
"Our hope is that the dictators in Haiti will get the message" and leave voluntarily, says Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott. Also:
-- U.N. Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali said a U.N. emissary failed in an effort to meet Haiti's rulers and end the situation peacefully.
-- Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Gen. John Shalikashvili, speaking to USA TODAY's editorial board, would not say if there's a deadline for a Haiti invasion. But Haiti's rulers "should have left yesterday."
-- J. Brian Atwood, U.S. Agency for International Development administrator, told USA TODAY that October is the "outside time frame" for Haiti's leaders to leave.
Military action in Haiti would be in two phases.
The initial thrust would be dominated by a force of about 10,000 U.S. troops, along with some other nations' forces.
An international force of 6,000 would maintain stability, even if Haiti's leaders go.
About 2,000 U.S. Marines have been aboard warships off the Haitian coast for weeks.
Deutch and Talbott also were in the Dominican Republic reviewing efforts to halt border trade that's undermining the economic embargo of Haiti. An 88-member U.N. observer team should be in place by mid-September, officials said.
