Pubdate: Sat, 03 Feb 2001
Source: Des Moines Register (IA)
Copyright: 2001 The Des Moines Register.
Contact:  P.O. Box 957, Des Moines IA 50304-0957
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Author: Andrew Selsky, Associated Press Writer
Bookmark: Reports about Colombia  http://www.mapinc.org/area/colombia

US-BACKED DRUG WAR HAS STRONG START

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) -- U.S.-trained army troops are sweeping 
through the world's top cocaine-producing region, protecting 
crop-dusters from enemy fire as they wipe out coca crops at an 
astonishing pace.

But the initial success of the anti-drug offensive -- heavily 
supported by the United States and criticized by European nations -- 
cannot be sustained indefinitely, acknowledged a senior U.S. military 
official based in Colombia.

Washington's gamble that it can win the drug war with military power 
includes the deployment of U.S. special forces as trainers to jungle 
camps near the war zone and the delivery of dozens of combat 
helicopters.

So far, the results of the counterdrug operations in southern 
Putumayo state, the world's largest cocaine-producing region, have 
been beyond most anyone's expectations, although some food crops have 
been destroyed.

In the past month, 62,000 acres of coca have been fumigated in 
Putumayo, said the U.S. military official, who spoke on condition 
that he not be further identified. That acreage is at least one-third 
of the coca crop believed to exist in Putumayo, and more than half 
the coca that was fumigated across all of Colombia in 1999.

But the pace will be virtually impossible to maintain, the U.S. 
official said, partly because of expected ``hostile fire'' and 
logistics in the remote Amazonian region.

The country's largest rebel group -- the Revolutionary Armed Forces 
of Colombia, or FARC -- earns huge profits by protecting coca crops 
and taxing the growers. Rebel threats to resist the offensive haven't 
yet materialized into major action.

However, 70 percent of the coca fumigated so far in Putumayo was 
under control not of the FARC but of a right-wing paramilitary group, 
the U.S. military official said.

The paramilitary group, which also ``taxes'' the coca industry, is 
unlikely to fight the army because it often maintains covert 
alliances with army officers -- as noted in a recent White House 
human rights report.

Gonzalo de Francisco, President Andres Pastrana's point man for 
Putumayo, agreed that when the U.S.-trained army troops move into 
guerrilla strongholds, fighting will intensify.

``The FARC has been there for five years,'' he said. ``They will resist.''

It's the goal of the U.S. and Colombia that the increased spray 
operations will eventually outpace the planters' ability to move to 
new areas.

Under the U.S. aid package, 10 fumigation planes will be deployed in 
addition to the 10 already being used. U.S. special forces have also 
been training three Colombian army battalions, containing about 3,000 
troops, to fight the drug war.

The United States also will be sending dozens of Black Hawk 
helicopters to Colombia later this year and ``Super Huey'' 
helicopters by March 2002.

Critics of the U.S. military aid to Colombia often draw comparisons 
to the early years of the Vietnam War, when Washington's involvement 
began with the deployment of a few military advisers.

Under Washington's $1.3 billion aid package to Colombia, no more than 
500 U.S. soldiers and 300 contract employees can be in the country at 
one time. They are barred from going into combat.

The FARC has declared that U.S. troops found in war zones would be 
considered ``military targets.''

The U.S. military official insisted that the Green Berets and other 
U.S special forces troops are stationed primarily in ``areas where 
contact with hostile forces is unlikely.''

``Force protection of deployed U.S. trainers is critical,'' he said.
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MAP posted-by: Kirk Bauer