`New chapter' opens for beleaguered Haiti.

The following editorial appeared in the Miami Herald on Monday, March 1:

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The hasty departure of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide from Haiti places urgent tasks on the agenda of the international community: end the humanitarian crisis, restore a measure of civil order and marginalize the goon squads who control the countryside and the battered capital.

The rapid deployment of a U.S. Marine contingent into Port-au-Prince could be a good first step, but its assignment _ protecting U.S. operations _ is too limited.

A larger force should follow as soon as possible. If history is any guide, Haitian thugs are quick to vanish when confronted by real soldiers, but there must be enough soldiers to ensure a safe environment for the task ahead.

Leaders of the so-called rebel forces that threatened Aristide's presidency include notorious killers and torturers who have no place in any government that aspires to lead Haiti toward democracy. However, they can be counted on to make trouble if the vacuum of power is left unfilled for long.

It is fair to say that practically no Haitian leader has left the country in such dire straits as Aristide. There isn't even a functioning legislative branch left behind to give the required legal blessing to Supreme Court Justice Boniface Alexandre as he attempts to salvage a functioning government. Under the circumstances, Alexandre must make the best of it and try to form a provisional national leadership that has room for all the nonviolent ...