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| Officials Seeking Shift in Colombia Drug War |
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Posted by FoM on February 18, 2002 at 08:55:40 PT By John Diamond, Washington Bureau Source: Chicago Tribune 
With little to show for a costly U.S. campaign against Colombian drug trafficking, the Bush administration and some key lawmakers are seeking to redefine the effort as a war on economic and political terrorism.Officially, President Bush seeks no change in congressionally imposed limits that restrict Colombia's use of U.S. military equipment and training to fighting the drug war rather than battling two powerful rebel groups. "At this point in time, and I suspect for the future, we're in a counter-narcotics situation with the Colombians," said a senior administration official. "We are training their military and providing equipment for counter-narcotics." But officials at the Pentagon are at odds with their State Department counterparts over the extent and type of U.S. military aid to the South American country, with the Pentagon arguing for deeper involvement. The Bush administration is proposing that $98 million in military assistance to Colombia go toward protecting a 480-mile oil pipeline that has become a magnet for terrorist strikes aimed at weakening the Colombian economy. The money would help train two Colombian army brigades for combat patrols. The president's request also seeks $439 million for other military and economic aid. Even on Capitol Hill, traditionally the center of concern about possible U.S. entanglement in a military quagmire in Colombia, some lawmakers are willing to consider giving the Colombians a freer hand in how they use American military aid. Five prominent House Republicans urged the State Department to allow Colombia to use at least some U.S. military equipment in going after terrorists in Colombia, particularly those who kidnap Americans. Fighting Terrorism U.S. aid, the lawmakers said, should be used "to help fight terrorism and drug trafficking." They urged that at least two military helicopters be used "for purposes of rescuing kidnapping victims, especially Americans ... at a minimum." The letter was signed by Reps. Henry Hyde, (R-Ill.) chairman of the House International Relations Committee; Dan Burton, (R-Ind.) chairman of the Government Reform Committee; Bob Barr, (R-Ga.); Cass Ballenger, (R-N.C.), chairman of the International Relations Western Hemisphere subcommittee; and Benjamin Gilman (R-N.Y.) Colombia is embroiled in a 38-year civil war, primarily involving two rebel groups: the 18,000-member FARC and the 5,000-member ELN, named for their Spanish initials. For the past three years, under Colombian President Andres Pastrana, a swath of territory the size of Switzerland has been ceded to the rebels, in hopes it would create a climate for peace talks. Instead, the war grinds on, claiming about 3,500 lives per year and raising international concerns about human-rights violations by rebel groups, right-wing paramilitaries and government forces. Meanwhile, the U.S. government can point to no perceptible reduction in the availability of cocaine on U.S. streets stemming from the campaign in Colombia. In the past decade, 50 American citizens have been kidnapped, 10 of them murdered. The oil pipeline, run by Los Angeles-based Occidental Petroleum, was bombed so many times last year it was out of commission for 266 days. Last month alone, rebels dynamited 50 electrical towers in an intensifying attack on the Colombian economy. All this has helped propel to the top of opinion polls the hard-liner among the candidates to succeed Pastrana in the May 26 election. A Gallup poll released last week indicated Alvaro Uribe, who has called for greater U.S. military aid, with 53 percent support. Pastrana Issues Plea The push for more U.S. military aid and greater freedom in how it is used is not confined to hard-liners. In his visit to Washington last November, the center-left Pastrana lobbied Bush and key lawmakers to give Colombia a free hand to use U.S. assistance against the rebels. Before expanding the scope of U.S. aid, many on Capitol Hill demand results. Rep. Sonny Callahan (R-Ala.), a key House Appropriations subcommittee chairman, told Secretary of State Colin Powell he may seek to rescind some of the $1.3 billion in the original "Plan Colombia" aid package approved under President Bill Clinton. Much of the money has gone to buy Black Hawk helicopters built by Sikorsky Aircraft in Connecticut, leading one critic to suggest the aid package be called "Plan Connecticut." Asked whether helping Colombia defend a private oil company's asset against terror attacks by rebel groups puts the U.S. beyond its original mission of fighting drug trafficking from Colombia, Powell acknowledged, "It's a close line." Oil's Importance The administration says Colombia needs the oil revenue to help pay its own way in the fight against rebels and drug traffickers. Moreover, the administration says the FARC and ELN are financed by the drug trade, making it difficult to distinguish between counter-insurgency war and counter-narcotics war. "The pipeline is the opening to get in deeper," said Michael Shifter, a Latin American analyst with the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington-based think tank. Source: Chicago Tribune (IL) Related Articles & Web Site: Colombia Drug War News Wider U.S. Role in Colombia Sought U.S. Misses Point on Colombia Problem Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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| Comment #1 posted by freedom fighter on February 18, 2002 at 15:42:35 PT |
| a year ago on CannabisNews.Com It is digusting to hear some "americans" worry about those 50 "americans" who were kidnapped when thousands of Colombians are being kidnapped. ff [ Post Comment ] |
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