Pubdate: Wed, 03 Jan 2001
Source: Washington Times (DC)
Copyright: 2001 News World Communications, Inc.
Contact:  202-832-8285
Website: http://www.washtimes.com/
Author: George Gedda, Associated Press

BUSH, DEMOCRATS MAY CLASH OVER EXTENT OF ANTI-DRUG WAR

A hallmark of the Clinton administration's military commitment to Colombia 
has been to help Colombian officials curb narcotraffickers while staying 
out of the country's long-running civil war.

President-elect George W. Bush may not be as fussy about drawing such 
distinctions. He could face a collision with Democrats over Colombia policy.

Under President Clinton's rules of engagement, leftist guerrillas are fair 
game if they are part of the drug-trafficking infrastructure, but U.S. 
helicopters and other assistance should not otherwise be used against the 
rebels.

As Mr. Clinton sees it, drug trafficking poses a threat to the United 
States, but Colombia's 35-year civil war doesn't.

The Bush team seems to think the current policy is too confining, a point 
made by Robert Zoellick, a top foreign policy adviser to Mr. Bush, in a 
no-press-allowed speech in late October.

"We cannot continue to make a false distinction between counterinsurgency 
and counternarcotics efforts," said Mr. Zoellick, a State Department aide 
in the first Bush administration a decade ago.

"The narcotraffickers and guerrillas compose one dangerous network," he said.

A copy of Mr. Zoellick's prepared remarks was made available by his office. 
His speech was delivered to a gathering of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Colombian rebels are believed to earn hundreds of millions of dollars 
through their links to drug traffickers. The State Department recently 
cited evidence that Colombia's leading rebel group supplied cocaine to a 
major Mexican cartel in exchange for cash and possibly weapons.

Mr. Zoellick suggested that future U.S. support for Colombia would depend 
on Colombian willingness to confront enemies of all stripes.

"If the legitimately elected leaders of Colombia demonstrate the political 
will to take their country back from killers and drug lords, and if the 
Colombian people are willing to fight for their own country, then the U.S. 
should offer serious, sustained and timely financial, material and 
intelligence support," Mr. Zoellick said.

But if the incoming Bush administration tries to alter the ground rules 
along the lines suggested by Mr. Zoellick, it would almost certainly 
produce Democratic opposition, particularly from Sens. Paul Wellstone of 
Minnesota, and Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont.

Many Democrats believe the Clinton administration already is too deeply 
involved in Colombia, citing shortcomings in the human rights record of the 
Colombian military and its continuing links with rightist paramilitary 
groups that also have a reputation for brutality.

Mr. Zoellick sees the problem differently.

He said in October that the "forces of democracy" must join hands to combat 
"new threats to security," such as that which exists in Colombia. His 
comments made no reference to human rights problems that Democrats find 
troubling.

The tougher line on Colombia was foreshadowed in an Aug. 25 speech by 
then-candidate Mr. Bush who said U.S. assistance "will help the Colombian 
government protect its people, fight the drug trade, halt the momentum of 
the guerrillas and bring about a sensible and peaceful resolution to this 
conflict."

Mr. Clinton angered many Democrats in August by waiving a legislative 
provision that requires that Colombia meet certain human rights criteria 
before further U.S. assistance can be dispensed. A $1.3 billion U.S. 
anti-drug package was approved for Colombia last summer.

Mr. Wellstone, in an opinion piece in yesterday's New York Times, delivered 
an appeal for no more human rights waivers.

"Next month," he wrote, "the U.S. government must once again certify that 
Colombia's military satisfies the conditions so that delivery of anti-drug 
aid can continue in 2001.
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