Pubdate: Wed, 31 May 2000 Source: International Herald-Tribune (France) Copyright: International Herald Tribune 2000 Contact: 181, Avenue Charles de Gaulle, 92521 Neuilly Cedex, France Fax: (33) 1 41 43 93 38 Website: http://www.iht.com/ Author: Karen DeYoung, Washington Post Service AS FUNDS LANGUISH IN SENATE, DRUG WAR FALTERS IN COLOMBIA WASHINGTON - U.S.-backed anti-drug programs in Colombia are running out of money and have effectively been halted as Congress delays emergency funding for military training and other activities, senior Clinton administration officials say. Anticipating that Congress would quickly pass a $1.3 billion supplemental appropriation requested on an emergency basis in January, President Bill Clinton's administration began expanding the anti-drug effort early this year and increased spending. But the funding package has been held up in the Senate for months and now appears unlikely to move forward until at least midsummer. In the meantime, according to officials seeking to emphasize the urgency of the problem, leftist guerrillas and rightist paramilitary forces involved in the drug trade have stepped up deployment and strengthened their defenses in the main regions where coca, the basic ingredient of cocaine, is grown. Instead of leveling off, as the administration had hoped, production of cocaine is likely to increase this year. Among the results of the funding shortfall cited by officials: - - Fumigation flights against coca, a centerpiece of the anti-drug effort, have been scaled back or stopped in many areas. Fumigation of opium poppies, used to make heroin, has been stopped. - - A special, Colombian Army antidrug battalion, trained at U.S. expense last year, has yet to undertake its first mission because the helicopters it is supposed to use are not available. - - A second 1,000-man battalion is "doing jumping jacks" while waiting for U.S. Army Special Forces trainers for whom no funding has been approved, one official said. "Things are worsening," another official said. "They are not static. Every week we are losing ground." These descriptions of a situation spinning out of control mark a new tack for administration officials. While warning that conditions were grave, they previously reassured Congress that their proposed remedy would begin to turn the tide in Colombia and, some years from now, stem the flood of drugs into the United States. That was enough to get the supplemental appropriation through the House of Representatives in March and send it to the Senate. But some senators remain opposed to the package, holding that the Colombian military should be ineligible for aid because of human rights abuses, that the plan itself is poorly conceived and that anti-drug money is better spent on prevention efforts at home. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D