cannabisnews.com: Critics of Plan Colombia Denounce Secret War





Critics of Plan Colombia Denounce Secret War
Posted by FoM on June 17, 2001 at 15:42:51 PT
By Alejandro Bustos
Source: Vancouver Sun
The U.S. government is hiring private American firms to fight its drug war in South America, a move critics say amounts to hiring mercenaries. At least four U.S. companies and one Canadian firm are assisting the Colombian military, a force that has come under fire from human rights groups for its role in a brutal civil war. The Canadian company, Vector Aerospace based in St. John's, Nfld., has been hired by the Colombian government to repair engines, components and auxiliary power units for its military aircraft, a contract worth $6.5 million Cdn. 
The American firms have either been hired directly by the U.S. government or acquired subcontract work from companies hired by Washington. Under these contracts, the U.S. companies now fly eradication missions over coca fields in the Andean region, provide surveillance planes that spot left-wing guerrillas in Colombia and offer military advice to Colombia's army and police, among other duties. One of those firms, Eagle Aviation Services and Technology Inc., based in Chantilly, Va., was hired by Lt.-Col. Oliver North, then a National Security Council official, to secretly run guns to right-wing Nicaraguan rebels during the 1980s. This secret supply of weapons and ammunition came at a time when the U.S. Congress had banned the White House from providing lethal aid to the Contra rebels in Nicaragua. When contacted, an EAST spokeswoman referred the call to the U.S. State Department. A State Department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the department only has a contract with Dyncorp, a military company based in Reston, Va. Dyncorp has been hired to fly eradication missions over fields of coca and poppy, the raw materials for cocaine and heroin. When it was pointed out that EAST is a subcontractor for Dyncorp, the official said he could only comment on the Dyncorp contract. He also brushed off suggestions that the U.S. was hiring mercenaries. "That's foolish," said the official in a phone interview. "They (Dyncorp) perform on technical aspects that fall outside of the scope of the State Department." But U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), who wants to ban the use of private businesses for counter-narcotics operations in South America, doesn't think her concerns are foolish. "We may be engaged in a secret war that may exacerbate the violence in Colombia," said Schakowsky. "I think mercenaries is the correct term. These are people who used to work for the CIA, some who worked for the army. Some of them were also involved in questionable counter-intelligence work in Central America in the 1980s." Schakowsky has introduced legislation in Congress that would effectively ban the use of private businesses for counter-narcotics operations. She said the bill could pass as early as this fall. The issue of a Canadian company's involvement with the Colombian military came up in Parliament last week, with NDP foreign affairs critic Svend Robinson asking what action the government planned to take to "stop this Canadian corporate complicity" with the Colombian military? David Kilgour, secretary of state for Latin America and Africa, said Vector would not need a government permit if the work were being done by a foreign subsidiary. A company official said at least some of the work was being done by its British subsidiary. Asked in an interview for his view on a Canadian firm working for the Colombian military, Kilgour replied: "I think it's appropriate for a democratically elected government to protect themselves." However, Kilgour said he had nothing but "absolute revulsion" for the paramilitary groups which have been tied to widespread massacres. Meanwhile, critics of "outsourcing" - a term used for turning the war on drugs over to the private sector - can point to three troubling incidents in South America involving private U.S. contractors. Last February Dyncorp employees flying in a U.S.-made military helicopter were involved in a firefight with left-wing rebels in the Colombia jungle. Private companies hired by Washington are not bound by the orders to avoid combat that apply to the roughly 200 regular U.S. military personnel currently in Colombia. On April 20 the Peruvian Air Force shot down a Cessna plane that was mistakenly identified as carrying drugs. A U.S. missionary and her adopted daughter were killed. News reports said Alabama-based Aviation Development Corp. was the company that alerted the Peruvians to the Cessna. And on Dec. 13, 1998, a Colombian Air Force plane is alleged to have bombed the town of Santo Domingo, killing 17 villagers. The Colombian military has long insisted the civilians were killed by a guerrilla bomb. Investigators in Colombia, however, now want to subpoena three U.S. civilians who are alleged to have helped pinpoint targets for the Colombian military from the plane, The Associated Press has reported. All three civilians were former employees of AirScan International Inc., of Rockledge, Fla., the fourth U.S. company hired by Washington to work in the region. A fifth U.S. firm hired by the Pentagon, Military Professional Resources Inc. of Alexandria, Va., did not have its one-year contract renewed when it expired in March. The company had been hired to offer military advice to Colombian officials. Some human rights groups, meanwhile, worry the drug war is really a cover for plans to engage in full-out battle against left-wing guerrillas. The United States is currently sending $1.3 billion US in mostly military aid to Colombia for counter-narcotics work. But Kate McCoy, program assistant for the Colombia Support Network based in Madison, Wis., said President George W. Bush may be preparing the U.S. populace for a wider war. "Bush has been changing his tone with Plan Colombia," said McCoy. "He's saying we need to not only fight drug traffickers but also" the rebels. McCoy said she was disturbed by a recent study released by RAND, a think-tank created by the U.S. Air Force in 1946, which argued that Washington should stop focusing on drug dealers and concentrate instead on the rebels and right-wing paramilitaries. Angel Rabasa, one of the co-authors of the RAND report, said his study does not advocate more U.S. involvement in Colombia. "The basic problem is the weakness of the Colombian state and its institutions," Rabasa said in an interview. The biggest threat to the Colombian government, he argued, comes from the two guerrilla groups in the country, as well as the right-wing paramilitaries, the name given to private militias formed by rich landowners and drug pushers. Before the drug problem can be solved, said Rabasa, the government must first regain control of the state, and this means becoming involved in counter-insurgency work. This argument doesn't sit well with some observers of the Colombian conflict. Robin Kirk, the Colombia researcher for Human Rights Watch, said any solution to the conflict must address the links between rogue elements of the Colombian armed forces and the paramilitaries, which have been accused of repeated massacres. "You don't strengthen the (Colombian) state . . . by giving money to the military without addressing their links to the paramilitaries," said Kirk. Complete Title: Critics of Plan Colombia Denounce Washington's 'Secret War' in South America Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)Author: Alejandro BustosPublished: Sunday, June, 17 2001 Copyright: The Vancouver Sun 2001Contact: sunletters pacpress.southam.caWebsite: http://www.vancouversun.com/Related Articles & Web Sites:RAND Corporationhttp://www.rand.org/Colombia Drug War Newshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/colombia.htm Bill Hikes Military's Power in Colombiahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10071.shtmlRAND: U.S. Should Help Colombian Military http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10005.shtmlCannabisNews Articles - DynCorphttp://cannabisnews.com/thcgi/search.pl?K=DynCorp
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Comment #3 posted by Neil on June 17, 2001 at 17:38:38 PT
Bon Voyage, GreenFox
Congrats GreenFox. I'm a bit envious. Is this your first visit to the land of the free and the home of the brave? Under the previous topic, "A Timely Warning", I offer some of my own observations of Amsterdam. You may be interested. Perhaps we shouldn't rely on the Dutch at all to serve as our agents in Holland but rather rotate the duty of "pot packet poster." After all, it is our Constitution that is in danger. Hard to ask a Dutchman to do more for it than we ourselves are willing although it seems we did more to liberate them from the Nazis than they themselves did in the 40's. In a way they owe us but I'm pretty sure that argument won't make you many friends in an Amsterdam coffeeshop. Enjoy. A small amount mailed once per day and you'll be in green for months upon your return.
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Comment #2 posted by greenfox on June 17, 2001 at 17:10:39 PT
The night before..
well tomorrow I leave. Ah, Amsterdam! -gf
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Comment #1 posted by Ethan Russo, MD on June 17, 2001 at 16:07:19 PT:
Who Is Buying It?
"Bush has been changing his tone with Plan Colombia," said McCoy. "He's saying we need to not only fight drug traffickers but also" the rebels. Gee, this is a surprise. I thought Dubya wanted to go toe-to-toe with China first? Perhaps two fronts are better than one?Should this happen, I predict that the complacent campuses may finally erupt. Even mainstream Maxwell is going to have a hard time digesting this, when his boy or girl goes off to die miserably in the jungle to raise the price of coke, and keep the jungle safe for the multinational corporations to suck the petroleum from its bowels.We'll be marching in the streets again. The backlash should be delicious after Dubya tries to prove to Mommy and Daddy that he's a real man.
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