`CARIBBEAN FORCE' A JOKE, A MISGUIDED EFFORT

The impending invasion of Haiti is probably necessary to restore a respectable level of human rights for a people who have been used and abused for decades by despots. Yet the machinations of the Clinton administration in setting up the international basis for a direct military assault on the tiny half-island nation border on the ridiculous.

The latest ploy in White House world diplomacy is to engage the military support and involvement of four tiny Caribbean countries. Jamaica, Trinidad, Barbados and Belize are best known as popular sun-filled vacation destinations. Now they are amassing a joint army totaling 266 troops to provide the second wave of an assault on Haiti's military rulers. The first wave would be 10,000 U.S. troops. The contrasts of this military invasion plan provide adequate basis for scoffing and a healthy dose of dubious doubting.

In the first place, a U.S. force 10,000 strong is more than enough might to undo the entire Haitian military, which consists of an ill-trained and poorly equipped militia. Haitian weapons, in many cases, couldn't even be fired if there were ammunition available -- and it isn't. Military helicopters can't fly. At best, the Haitian military is a band of thugs, and the well-equipped and well-trained U.S. forces are likely to encounter little resistance.

The 266-member international force -- it is laughable to even give it such a laudable label -- are tokens of support. The army regulars from the four Caribbean countries are more accustomed to quelling noisy tourists at popular night spots. The real intent has little to do with military might. The only reason for sending the Caribbean troops to Haiti at all is to give the Clinton administration the right to say the invasion is a multinational assault.

Big deal.

It is time to stop playing games in Haiti. The president already has a U.N. resolution authorizing the use of "all necessary means" to restore democracy in Haiti. If the situation in Haiti has reached the point where U.S. interests are at stake and military force is required, then get on with it.

The cosmetics of token Caribbean troops won't cow Haiti's military leaders. But 10,000 American soldiers on the Port-au-Prince beaches are another matter. It is the only option for both sides. Haiti has as much at stake in the eyes of international diplomacy as the United States. A direct military take-over by a foreign power appears to be the only face-saving way for the junta to give up its grasp on the beleaguered Haitians.