Pubdate: Sun, 09 Sep 2001
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Copyright: 2001 The Washington Post Company
Contact:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/491
Page: A1
Author:  Alan Sipress, Washington Post Staff Writer

U.S. REASSESSES COLOMBIA AID

Anti-Drug Efforts Studied As Powell Visits Bogota.

As Secretary of State Colin L. 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 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 that option 
could be tempered by U.S. concerns about the human rights record of regular 
Colombian army forces.

Administration officials stressed that the training would support only 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 an eye toward winning 
congressional approval for the funding for fiscal 2003.

"We have certainly been talking to the government of Colombia about it, but 
no decision has been made," a senior State Department official said.

This consideration comes as some top Pentagon officials are apprehensive 
that the United States could be drawn deeper into Colombia's 37-year-old 
civil war.

The drug trade provides enormous profits to the guerrillas and right-wing 
paramilitary groups fighting in the conflict. Officials outside the 
Pentagon said they were confident their counterparts in the Defense 
Department would feel more comfortable as they became more familiar with 
the counter-narcotics program.

The concerns are "raised by civilian guys in the Pentagon who are new on 
the job, who are getting their feet on the ground," a State Department 
official said. "Once they go to Colombia and see how it's done, they'll 
feel better about it."

He and other U.S. officials emphasize that the current aid package, 
composed primarily of transport helicopters and military trainers for the 
security forces, is aimed at uprooting drug trafficking in Colombia. The 
country accounts for up to 90 percent of the world's cocaine.

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 rebel insurgency.

The anxiety felt in some parts of the U.S. government was reflected by 
Peter W. Rodman, assistant defense secretary for international security 
affairs, who told reporters late last month that the administration was 
facing "some agonizing decisions" about its Colombia strategy.

"Are we getting deeper into a conflict or not?. . . . What is at stake?" 
Rodman said. "I think we as a country are not quite sure where we are heading."

He added it was natural that the Bush administration would want to reassess 
whether the goal of American involvement is solely to curb narcotics or 
also to help ensure the survival of the Colombian government.

"I think any new administration would have come in and looked and said, 
'Where are we heading there, given the military engagement?' "

In his talks with Pastrana, Powell will make clear the Bush administration 
remains committed to the policy initiated last year by President Bill 
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.

"He will tell Pastrana that we support the peace process, that we support 
Pastrana and that the peace process is a big element both in Pastrana's 
ability to continue with Plan Colombia and for our ability to support Plan 
Colombia," another senior State Department official said.

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. The Senate intelligence committee is scheduled this week to 
review a report on the downing of the plane, in which two people were killed.

Powell's trip to Bogota, which is expected to include meetings with 
Pastrana, military officials, leading political figures and human rights 
groups, comes at a time of mounting uncertainty about the peace process.

Officials in Colombia and the United States have grown increasingly 
uncomfortable with the despeje, the Switzerland-size swath of southern 
Colombia turned over by Pastrana to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of 
Colombia (FARC) three years ago as a safe haven for peace talks. 
Administration officials have accused the FARC rebels in recent weeks of 
misusing the territory -- for instance, by receiving training in 
bomb-making, holding kidnapping victims and trading in drugs.

Although administration officials said they privately discussed Pastrana's 
negotiating tactics with him, they said it remains his call whether to 
renew the despeje by Oct. 6, the government-imposed deadline for deciding 
its disposition. "This is a Pastrana decision," a senior administration 
official said. "We're not going to second-guess him."

Indeed, Pastrana's peace endeavor could be entering its twilight, since his 
term will end next year and the candidates running to replace him have 
criticized his handling of negotiations.

At the same time, the ultimate impact of Plan Colombia remains unclear. The 
United States is just beginning to deliver the 16 Blackhawk transport 
helicopters that form the centerpiece of American aid. The first three were 
provided last month -- two for the police and one for the army -- and 
another three for the army should arrive this week, administration 
officials said.

The balance, all bound for the army, should be delivered by the end of the 
year, officials said.

The United States has already supplied 15 aging Huey helicopters. An 
additional 25 newly refurbished Hueys should be delivered through next 
year, officials said.

To assist the aerial spraying of drug crops, the administration has 
promised to augment Colombia's fleet of sprayer airplanes. But the U.S. 
delivery has fallen behind because the company contracted to supply them 
has gone bankrupt, U.S. officials said.

Administration officials acknowledge that other elements of Plan Colombia, 
including support for farmers to substitute crops for coca and for 
improvements in the Colombian judicial system, remain in the early stages.

As the crackdown on coca cultivation in southern Colombia has progressed, 
particularly in Putumayo province, the drug business has rapidly spread 
elsewhere in the country. Congress is reviewing an administration request 
for another $882 million in the coming year to address the spillover of 
drug activity across the Andean region and beyond.

A little less than half the funds would go to Colombia, with the remainder 
designated for six other Latin American countries. The initiative would 
finance social and economic development, as well as law enforcement and 
security assistance.

The administration is also asking Congress to adjust a limit on Americans 
working in Colombia as part of the anti-drug effort, which caps U.S. 
military personnel at 500 and contract employees at 300. Bush officials 
have agreed to maintain the overall limit of 800, but they say the number 
of contract employees will have to exceed 300 once Plan Colombia fully ramps up.
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart