Pubdate: Mon, 10 Sep 2001 Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA) Copyright: 2001 San Jose Mercury News Contact: http://www.sjmercury.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/390 Author: Alan Sipress U.S. LOOKS TO EXPAND DRUG FIGHT IN COLOMBIA Powell To Discuss Policy With Pastrana As Bush Considers More Military Training WASHINGTON -- As Secretary of State Colin Powell leaves today for South America, U.S. officials are considering how to expand their training of Colombian security forces with the battle against cocaine cultivation and trafficking spreading from southern Colombia to other parts of the country, administration officials said. Among the options under consideration is training of a new Colombian anti-narcotics battalion beyond the three that already have received instruction under a year-old, $1.3 billion U.S. aid package, a senior administration official said. Another alternative would be training an existing military battalion in fighting drug trafficking, but the official said support for this option could be tempered by U.S. concerns about the human rights record of regular Colombian army troops. Administration officials stressed that the training would be in support only of the ``existing mission'' of combating the drug trade, and not designed to bolster the Colombian government's long-running war against leftist rebels. A final call about whether to step up U.S. military training would likely be made over the next four to six months, with the intention of winning congressional approval for the funding for the 2003 fiscal year. ``We have certainly been talking to the government of Colombia about it, but no decision has been made,'' a senior State Department official said. Powell's trip to Colombia will follow an overnight visit to Peru for a meeting of the Organization of American States. His trip comes as the Bush administration has been reviewing U.S. policy toward Colombia, where President Andres Pastrana's peace effort is flagging in the face of a well-funded insurgency. In his talks with Pastrana, Powell will make clear the Bush administration remains committed to the policy initiated last year by former President Clinton, U.S. officials said. The $1.3 billion U.S. aid package formed part of Pastrana's Plan Colombia, which combines an anti-narcotics campaign with development projects. U.S. officials said that in Colombia and Peru, Powell will signal the administration's intention to resume anti-drug air patrols, which were suspended in April after an American missionary plane was mistakenly identified by a CIA surveillance plane as a narcotics flight and shot down by a Peruvian jet. Peruvian and Colombian leaders have been pressing for the patrols to resume. But the conditions for restarting the air interdiction program have yet to be set and no official announcement is expected during Powell's visit, officials said. - --- MAP posted-by: Josh