Pubdate: Sat, 18 Nov 2000
Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA)
Copyright: 2000 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.
Contact:  PO Box 120191, San Diego, CA, 92112-0191
Fax: (619) 293-1440
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Authors: Christopher Marquis and Juan Forero, New York Times News Service

COLOMBIAN MILITARY AID PLAN LOSES BACKER

House Panel Chairman Labels It 'major Mistake'

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Benjamin Gilman, chairman of the House International 
Relations Committee, has abruptly withdrawn his support from the decision 
to funnel $1.3 billion in mostly military aid to Colombia, arguing that the 
United States is on the brink of a "major mistake."

Gilman, R-N.Y., sent a letter this week to the White House drug policy 
coordinator, Gen. Barry McCaffrey, contending that the U.S. plan to 
increase the role of the Colombian military in the drug fight will end 
disastrously because the military has undermined its political support 
after a history of corruption and human-rights abuses. That position echoes 
other critics of the plan.

Gilman called on the Clinton administration to redirect its assistance, 
including at least 40 Blackhawk helicopters, from the military to the 
national police in Colombia. Gilman has long admired the police, whom he 
views as more effective and less tainted by human-rights violations.

"If we fail early on with Plan Colombia, as I fear, we could lose the 
support of the American people for our efforts to fight illicit narcotics 
abroad," Gilman said. "If we lose public support, we will regret we did not 
make the midcorrections for Colombia that I have outlined here."

Last summer, Gilman voted to support Plan Colombia, a $7.5 billion strategy 
drafted jointly by U.S. and Colombian officials and passed by Congress.

In addition to the military spending, the program allocates money to 
promote alternative crops, economic renewal and human rights. The plan 
seeks to halve drug production over five years in Colombia, reportedly the 
source of most of the cocaine and heroin that enters the United States.

Congressional sources said Gilman was troubled by recent military failures 
in rural areas where rebel forces operate.

It is unclear what effects, if any, Gilman's shift will have.

A Senate Republican aide who follows Colombia closely said it was "far too 
early" to criticize the plan. Gilman is expected to relinquish his 
chairmanship next year because of term limits.

Critics of Plan Colombia have argued that the military aid would merely 
intensify the conflict in which two rebel groups have joined forces with 
narcotics traffickers against the government, a conflict that could 
eventually draw the United States directly into fighting the rebels.

Leaders of Colombia's neighbors also have expressed fears that the fighting 
will spill into their countries.

Washington counters that Colombia's increasingly jumbled battle lines make 
it necessary to equip and deploy the military in the fight against drugs.

The U.S. plan calls for training three counternarcotics battalions, with a 
total of up to 3,000 troops. The administration also has promised to watch 
over the military's record on human rights.

Robert Weiner, a spokesman for McCaffrey, said Thursday that denying aid to 
the military on the basis of its past performance would ensure defeat.

"Granted, they're not a superpower," Weiner said. "One of the major 
purposes of the Plan Colombia is to provide the military with the resources 
they need. This actually scares the cartels to death."

In southern Putumayo province, where half of the coca in Colombia is grown, 
rebels have sealed off roads, arguing that the military has to rein in 
right-wing gunmen who are associated with the armed forces.

A botched operation in a northern town, Dabeiba, resulted last month in the 
downing of one of the army's seven American-made Blackhawk copters and the 
deaths of 22 troops.

The helicopter had been carrying reinforcements to assist soldiers locked 
in a firefight with rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. 
But sloppy communications led the pilot to land in a rebel-controlled area, 
a U.S. official said.
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