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| US Pilots in Colombia Drug War Say Not Mercenaries |
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Posted by FoM on August 17, 2001 at 18:15:32 PT By Andrew Selsky, Associated Press Source: Associated Press 
Trying to dispel their mercenary image, U.S. contract pilots waging a drug war in Colombia insisted Friday they are just regular pilots doing a job which happens to involve them getting shot at. Flying crop dusters and helicopters, the American employees of DynCorp, of Reston, Va., have been on the front lines of Washington's campaign to eradicate cocaine and heroin producing crops in the South American country. Three Americans have been killed in two crashes since 1997. Other aircraft have been hit by gunfire from rebels and paramilitaries who ''tax'' and protect the coca and poppy crops. The pilots have been earning a reputation as daredevils. A leading Bogota newsmagazine, Semana, last month called the Americans ''mercenarios'' and ''Godless Rambos'' in a cover story. In a public relations counteroffensive, three veteran U.S. pilots and a manager met with reporters in a drab DynCorp briefing room full of maps at Bogota's airport. The conversation was monitored by a U.S. Embassy official, who said the pilots could only be identified by their first names and that they could not be photographed. Wearing T-shirts or sport shirts, and in their 30s and 40s, they look like any regular group of guys you might find in a working-class area of Dallas or Detroit. And if they make the news, it won't be good news. DynCorp pilots earn upward of $75,000 per year, but volunteers for the job are not plentiful. ''It's tough to find people who are willing to come down here and do this,'' said Bob, a veteran pilot from Texas who wears his hair long and sports a thick mustache. ''It's a little different,'' agreed Mark, another crop-duster pilot with a boyish face. Meanwhile, concern is building in Washington that the Bush administration is quietly increasing America's involvement in the Colombia conflict by using civilian fliers to avoid a direct U.S. military buildup. Americans also fly Colombian army and search-and-rescue helicopters. The U.S. Congress has mandated that up to 300 U.S. contractors and 500 U.S. military personnel are allowed in Colombia. DynCorp acknowledged Friday that it already has 335 employees in the country. But the company and the U.S. Embassy insist the contractor limit is not being broken because only about 100 of the personnel are U.S. citizens, with the rest coming from Peru, Guatemala and other countries. ''This raises a whole new set of issues, like how the United States may be trying to circumvent the contractor cap,'' said Ingrid Vaicius, an analyst with the Center for International Policy in Washington. Critics charge the widespread spraying of herbicide is harming the environment and making people sick. Mark, from his bird's eye perspective, said he has seen farmers burning down the rainforest to replace their fumigated coca fields. Some of the three dozen American pilots like Thomas, a lanky Texan are veterans of Vietnam and other conflicts. Others fell into this risky business through classified ads or word-of-mouth with no prior experience in hostile environments. Mark, who crisscrossed the United States working as a crop-duster, said he took the DynCorp job because he could work year-round. If he works two weeks on, he gets two weeks off, and the company flies him home during the break. The pilots carry sidearms on missions and have received survival training. Beyond facing being shot down, the Americans also risk capture by members of the 16,000-strong Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, who earn millions of dollars in the drug trade. ''We're just concerned that we survive the incidents,'' said Bob. ''We've been hit over solid jungle, we've been shot at by people standing on the banks of small streams, over coca fields and open fields, in almost every segment of the flight.'' Complete Title: U.S. Pilots in Colombia Drug War Say They're Not Mercenaries They're Just Doing a Job Related Articles & Web Sites: DynCorp Colombia Drug War News State Department Official Defends Drug Spraying Agent Orange, All Over Again Critics of Plan Colombia Denounce Secret War Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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| Comment #5 posted by meagain on August 18, 2001 at 05:14:46 PT |
| No one is holding a gun to these prohibitionist's head to make them do what they do. They must be mental or sick and in dire need of extensive counseling. If I was in law enforcement and was given an assignment that meant I was to be a "drug warrior" my "boss" would be getting some retirement papers. I have much respect for good cops but these bad cops don't HAVE to do what they do.Don't they have the balls to just say NO and find a new job???? The poll Created: Fri Aug 17 21:52:16 EDT 2001 [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #4 posted by Patrick on August 17, 2001 at 22:59:02 PT |
| COOL! Should Jamaica legalize marijuana for personal use? Yes 68% 3688 votes The Aye's have it! True Democracy in Action. Next Years Travel Slogan: Visit Jamaica's 1st Annual Reggae and Cannabis Cup Festival July 4th 2002 I for one prefer the beach and sun to the cold northern Europe winters. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #3 posted by FoM on August 17, 2001 at 22:52:06 PT |
| It's holding at 68 Percent! That's really good! Created: Fri Aug 17 21:52:16 EDT 2001 [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #2 posted by Robbie on August 17, 2001 at 22:10:41 PT |
| POLL: Should Jamaica legalize marijuana for personal use? [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #1 posted by Andy on August 17, 2001 at 19:49:54 PT |
| Shoot them all down!!!! They need to kill every DynCorp employee that is vandalizing their property! These DynCorp employee's have no moral, and no brains. These people are idiots and deserve to die. [ Post Comment ] |
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