cannabisnews.com: Colombian Support for Force Grows Colombian Support for Force Grows Posted by FoM on August 28, 2001 at 17:50:51 PT By Jared Kotler, Associated Press Writer Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer With peace talks fizzling and Colombia's armed forces showing sudden promise on the battlefield, support is growing here for using military force to bring leftist insurgents to their knees. The shift could foreshadow an intensification of this Colombia's 37-year guerrilla war, and comes as the Bush administration debates how best to aid a troubled neighbor without getting sucked into the conflict. A hardening of attitudes is apparent among many Colombians, including business leaders and top candidates in next year's presidential elections. They accuse the guerrillas of intransigence and question President Andres Pastrana's largesse in handing the nation's largest rebel group a huge chunk of territory as an incentive to negotiate.A high-level U.S. delegation arriving Wednesday - the first since President Bush took office - will meet with Pastrana as part of a review of U.S. policy in Colombia.U.S. aid is currently earmarked mostly for counternarcotics operations. The country's largest rebel group - the 16,000-strong Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC - taxes and protects the cocaine trade to fund its insurgency, making the rebels a target for some of the U.S. military assistance.The Bush administration has not indicated whether, or how, it might change Washington's role in Colombia. But it underscored that Colombia is high on its agenda by announcing that Secretary of State Colin Powell would be visiting here on Sept. 11-12.Arriving Wednesday in Bogota are the Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Marc Grossman; the National Security Council's Latin America adviser, John Maisto; and Gen. Peter Pace, the commander of U.S. military forces in Latin America.Recent military successes following years of humiliation at the hands of the FARC are boosting the armed forces' morale, and the country appears to be preparing for things to get worse before there is peace.Generals were triumphant during a large offensive last week in which the military claims it killed dozens of rebels while routing a column of more than 1,000 FARC fighters who left the safe haven to attack towns in the coca-growing south.In an interview published Sunday, the commander of the army, Gen. Jorge Mora, predicted there would be intensified fighting over the next two to three years before the military gains the upper hand and forces the rebels to capitulate."Today's army is capable of winning the war," Mora told the newsmagazine Semana.The Trade Group Council, an umbrella group of 15 Colombian private-sector associations, announced it would be holding events to honor the armed forces in cities around the country Tuesday and would lobby for a larger defense budget.A tougher military will strengthen the peace process, council president Sabas Pretelt was quoted as saying in Tuesday's El Tiempo newspaper.Pastrana generated high hopes when he was elected three years ago on peace platform. But talks with the FARC have yielded almost no advances, while evidence mounts that the rebels have used their sanctuary for military preparations.The captures here this month of three suspected Irish Republican Army members believed to have given explosives training to the FARC has raised fears of an urban guerrilla bombing campaign - expanding what has been a largely rural war.Pastrana says he remains committed to the peace process and hopes for a possible cease-fire before he leaves office next year. However, he recently signed legislation broadening the military's powers to carry out the war and has overseen a near-doubling in the number of professional soldiers.Washington is providing helicopters and troop training under last year's $1.3 billion aid plan.Daniel Garcia Pena, an anti-war activist and former government peace envoy called the growing warlike attitudes by both the military and the rebels "very worrisome.""When one side looks to strengthen itself the other side does too, and all that happens is the war escalates," he said.Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer (WA)Author: Jared Kotler, Associated Press WriterPublished: Tuesday, August 28, 2001Copyright: 2001 Seattle Post-IntelligencerContact: editpage seattle-pi.comWebsite: http://www.seattle-pi.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Colombia Drug War Newshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/colombia.htmPowell To Travel To Colombiahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10745.shtmlPeace Effort in Colombia Near a Standstillhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10734.shtml END SNIP --> Snipped Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #4 posted by dddd on August 30, 2001 at 15:25:49 PT to be quite blunt Blunt Monkey is rightdddd [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by Blunt Monkey on August 30, 2001 at 14:52:32 PT: OIL This war, like most modern wars, is over oil. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by observer on August 29, 2001 at 08:04:18 PT timelines see: Vietnam Escalation Timeline (links)http://www.google.com/search?q=vietnam+escalation+timelineespecially see;http://library.thinkquest.org/25734/data/war/timeline.html?tqskip=1 [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by dddd on August 29, 2001 at 02:50:50 PT wont you join me ...in a competition style,synchro-power barf,,as we try not tochuckle and choke,on the groceries blasting forth,,with sheer disgust about such lines as..;>"and comes as the Bush administration debates how best to aid a troubled neighbor without getting sucked into the conflict."PULEEEEZE.....yes,,,we are just reaching out to a "troubled neighbor",...GACK!!!,as if this was some sort of humanitarian mission,and we'rejust tryin' to lend a helpin' hand,,,,yup,,just reluctantlyhassling with,,,and trying not to get," sucked into the conflict".......New lows in the insidious world of insalubrious propaganda.......dddd [ Post Comment ] Post Comment