Pubdate: Mon, 11 Dec 2000
Source: Houston Chronicle (TX)
Copyright: 2000 Houston Chronicle
Contact:  Viewpoints Editor, P.O. Box 4260 Houston, Texas 77210-4260
Fax: (713) 220-3575
Website: http://www.chron.com/
Forum: http://www.chron.com/content/hcitalk/index.html
Author: John Otis

`THEY ARE OUTSTANDING SOLDIERS'

U.S.-Trained Colombian Anti-Drug Battalions Coming On Line

LARANDIA MILITARY BASE, Colombia - As rows of Colombian soldiers saluted 
their superior officers at a graduation ceremony, a handful of U.S. Green 
Berets applauded and recorded the parade with video cameras.

"They are outstanding soldiers," said a member of the U.S. Army Special 
Forces temporarily stationed at this sprawling military base in southern 
Colombia.

On loan from Fort Bragg, N.C., dozens of veteran Green Berets have spent 
months molding Colombian soldiers into anti-narcotics battalions that will 
wage war on drug traffickers and Marxist rebels.

The formation of the elite battalions is a key component of a U.S.-backed 
plan to roll back this nation's soaring drug production. Colombia supplies 
90 percent of the cocaine and about two-thirds of the heroin sold on U.S. 
streets.

In July, the U.S. Congress approved an $862 million aid package for 
Colombia. About half of the assistance will support a Colombian military 
push into the rebel-infested drug-producing states of Caqueta and Putumayo.

One counterdrug battalion was activated last December. By next May, three 
more battalions - each made up of between 600 and 900 troops - will be in 
the field with the support of 46 U.S.-made Blackhawk and Huey II helicopters.

"You are the new model of the Colombian army," Defense Minister Luis 
Fernando Ramirez said Friday at the inauguration of the second anti-drug 
battalion, which will be activated later this month.

The Green Berets try to maintain a low profile. They rarely leave the 
Larandia military base, 235 miles southwest of the capital of Bogota.

But on Friday, the senior U.S. military trainer talked for the first time 
with a group of American reporters.

Critics fear that the growing U.S. military presence in Colombia could drag 
the United States into an unwinnable guerrilla war. But during a 30-minute 
interview, the American officer played down the counterin-surgency aspects 
of the Green Berets' five-month training program.

"We are not training them to confront guerrillas," he said. "It's a fact of 
life that there are guerrillas operating where these guys operate, and so 
they have to be prepared to deal with that threat. But that is not their 
primary objective."

Even so, U.S. military officials admit that Colombia's 36-year guerrilla 
war is likely to heat up.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, which is the nation's 
largest rebel group, earns millions of dollars annually by taxing and 
providing protection for drug dealers.

FARC leaders have warned that the formation of the U.S.-trained battalions 
could doom peace talks that began last year with the Colombian government. 
They have also vowed to step up their attacks on the army and to target 
U.S. military personnel in Colombia.

"Clearly the situation, militarily, will become much more active," said 
Gen. Peter Pace, head of the U.S. Southern Command, who attended Friday's 
ceremony. "You can't go into (drug-producing regions) without someone 
pushing back."

Unlike normal Colombian army units, the anti-drug battalions will, at 
times, perform police and investigative duties. Rather than carrying out 
surprise attacks, for example, anti-drug troops must first notify 
traffickers of their presence, then attempt to arrest them and seize evidence.

"It makes their mission much more difficult than a standard military 
operation where the objectives are just to go out and destroy the enemy," 
the senior U.S. trainer said.

"If they receive fire, they can return fire, but they need to 
discriminate," he said. "Within these drug labs, you can have family 
members, wives, children and livestock. You don't want to commit any 
human-rights abuses."

The issue of human rights is especially touchy because, in the past, the 
Colombian army has been accused of widespread violations.

Furthermore, there is growing recognition that, to turn the tide in the 
drug war, the army must win the hearts and minds of thousands of poor 
farmers. They scratch out a living by growing coca and opium poppies - the 
raw materials for cocaine and heroin.

As a result, soldiers selected for the anti-narcotics battalions have been 
vetted for past human-rights abuses. Rather than raw draftees, nearly all 
of the troops have at least five years of experience.

One exercise during the Green Beret training course involves dealing with 
hostile communities. The troops are taught to gather information and arrest 
traffickers without abusing the population.

"We built a town and actually had 30 role-playing civilians, everyone from 
the mayor to the priest to the town drunk," the U.S. trainer said.

It's unclear whether the strategy will work.

The first and only counterdrug battalion now operating has destroyed 
several laboratories and has met guerrilla resistance. So far, one soldier 
has been killed and several injured, according to Gen. Jorge Enrique Mora, 
the Colombian army chief.

But Mora predicted that the army's performance will improve once all four 
counterdrug battalions are up and running and all of the U.S. helicopters 
are delivered. The helicopters are vital for transporting troops in the 
mountains and dense jungles.

"We will have high expectations once we are at full capacity," he said.
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