Police battle Aristide gangs in Haitian capital

[Emillereid]

PORT-AU-PRINCE : Gun battles between Haitian police and gangs loyal to ex-president Jean Bertrand Aristide left at least three dead, witnesses said, as US Marines staged a show of force to counter rebel attempts to take control of the capital.

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Heavy fighting erupted as police sought to assert authority on the barricaded, garbage-strewn streets of the slum. Witnesses said at least three people had been killed.

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Philippe's pronouncements, coupled with threats to arrest Prime Minister Yvon Neptune, a close Aristide ally who remained in office after the president's resignation, have drawn scorn from Washington where officials predicted the rebels would fade in the face of overwhelming might.

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Those statements were met with derision in Washington. The top US diplomat for Latin America, Roger Noriega, denigrated Philippe's force as a "ragtag band" and suggested that soon the rebel leader would "probably want to make himself scarce."....

- AFP
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/73772/1/.html

Just what are we up to in Haiti? Has anyone got a bead on what's really going on and what the US hopes to achieve there?