HAITI "HIT LIST" STIRS UP DUST IN D.C.

A Pentagon disclosure Thursday that 27 political opponents ofHaitian President Jean-Betrand Aristidemay be targeted for assassination has infuriated the White House and State Department,TIME Miami bureau chief Cathy Boothreports. "It's Defense acting as a renegade department," a senior State official said after getting a phone call from a "livid" White House this morning. Booth says U.S. officials fear the release of such lists, compiled with dubious information, only undercut U.S. efforts in Haiti. Besides, she adds, such "hit lists" already abound in Haiti: "We're not going down these lists and warning people," a U.S. diplomat in Port-au-Prince told TIME today. "There are a lot of lists. Lists of 100. Lists of 30. Supposed lists. Real lists. Left lists. Right lists. A lot of imagined lists. We're not going down some list of 27 and warning people. Most know who they are. When we have credible evidence, we will warn people."