BUT IF THERE'S NO DEAL

The Pentagon buzz about a Monday invasion gained more credence today when Secretary of State Warren Christopher warned the move could come in "a matter of days." President Clinton canceled a Sunday political fund raiser in California that would have kept him away from the capital till dawn Monday. Defense Secretary William Perry, meanwhile, said an invasion "would be over in a matter of hours, at most a day or two." TIME Defense correspondent Mark Thompson reports that according to Pentagon sources, the latest scheme has elite Navy SEALs doing the initial dirty work. U.S. war plans then call for 4,000 troops from the aircraft carriers U.S.S. America and U.S.S. Eisenhower to move into and around Port-au-Prince, while 1,800 Marines from a "WASP" amphibious assault ship would secure Haiti's north. And those multinational forces? Caribbeans and others won't move in until everything's already peaceful: "This is an all-American show in the opening hours and the opening days," Thompson says.THE HAITIAN BATTLE PLAN? Haiti's elite troops aren't exactly planning a mano-a-mano confrontation: TIME's Allis reports that many have already changed into their civvies and gone home -- with weapons. The so-called "evaporation defense," which the junta threatened weeks ago, would leave 7,500 Haitian soldiers in hiding as 20,000 better-armed U.S. troops scour the country. The Haitian troops will either act as snipers or, if people feel safe after a U.S. invasion, they'll be fingered by the civilians they used to terrorize, says Allis.