Pubdate: Mon, 08 Apr 2002
Source: Newsweek (US)
Copyright: 2002 Newsweek, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.msnbc.com/news/NW-front_Front.asp
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/309
Author: John Barry

PIPELINE BRIGADE

President Bush Is Arming Troops To Protect Occidental Petroleum In 
Colombia. What Next?

April 8 issue -- Is George W. Bush using war as an extension of his 
oil policy? It looked that way in February, when Washington announced 
a $700 million aid package for the Andean region, largely to fight 
the twin threats of guerrilla war and drugrunning that threaten the 
area. As is usual, half the money will go to Colombia, but with a new 
twist: $98 million for training and equipping a Colombian brigade of 
around 2,000 soldiers to protect the 772-kilometer Cano Limon 
pipeline. Used to transport crude oil to the Caribbean coast from a 
field pumped by Occidental Petroleum of California in partnership 
with the Colombian state oil company, the pipeline is a favorite 
target of rebel saboteurs.

This would hardly be the first time a nation defended its interest in 
smoothly flowing oil supplies by force of arms. Iraq's 1990 invasion 
of Kuwait and the gulf war that followed are only the latest 
conflicts over control of fossil fuel. Bush's critics have argued 
since September 11 that his "war on terror" is really about oil, and 
their suspicions have been heightened by the Pentagon's clear intent 
to keep access to bases in the oil-rich Caspian Sea region after the 
war in Afghanistan winds down. But in Colombia the oil connection is 
not conjecture: it was spelled out in a budget request that 
specifically names the pipeline and Occidental, and appeared to set a 
dangerous precedent.

If the United States would defend Occidental's supplies, why not 
those of any number of American oil companies in potential war zones? 
At a time when the Bush administration has built its energy policy 
around reducing U.S. dependence on Mideast oil, and is working 
overtime to fill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, it can't ignore 
disruption of other sources. In March, Bush aides were planning to 
push through $15 million to $30 million in emergency spending to 
"jump-start" the pipeline defense effort, rather than wait for the 
2003 budget process to grind itself out.

Senior Bush officials insist the Cano Limon brigade has its origins 
not in U.S. oil interests but in parliamentary maneuvering back home. 
Conventional wisdom in Washington is that Colombia will lose the war 
against the rebels without more U.S. help. Bush officials, like their 
predecessors, express frustration at laws that limit U.S. military 
aid to Colombia to the war on its notorious drug traffickers. Before 
leaving on his trip to South America in March, Bush vowed to do 
everything possible to expand U.S. aid beyond drugs to help in 
Colombia's other war, the decades-old fight against Marxist guerrilla 
armies. That's where the Cano Limon brigade comes in. "The pipeline 
got in there because the White House figured it was the only thing 
they could do within the existing guidelines," says a senior Pentagon 
source.

In the wake of 9-11, it may work. The congressional distinction 
between fighting drug runners and insurgents in Colombia has never 
made much sense, because the guerrillas make their money running 
drugs. By now the rebel armies control about half the country, and 
the larger one, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), 
makes an estimated $300 million a year in the drug trade. It is also 
waging a campaign of economic sabotage. Last year rebel bombings put 
Cano Limon out of commission for 266 days, costing Colombia $500 
million in lost export revenue. In January and February, guerrillas 
widened the attacks to electricity pylons, bridges and waterworks 
around the country. As Washington describes it, the new Cano Limon 
brigade is a way of defending the economic lifeline of a nation on 
the verge of becoming what one Pentagon planner calls "a failed 
state."

To the extent that this is about oil, it's about Colombian oil, Bush 
officials insist. They concede that Occidental lobbied for 
protection, but not strongly, and that it made no difference. 
Colombia is the seventh largest supplier of oil to the United States, 
exporting 332,000 barrels per day in 2000. At that rate Colombia 
"matters zilch" to U.S. energy security, says a Washington military 
source. However, oil matters hugely to Colombia. It is the chief 
source of export income, which will be critical to the future health 
of the economy and Colombia's ability to hold off FARC. The State 
Department has long listed FARC as "terrorists" rather than 
guerrillas. In the wake of September 11, money for the pipeline 
brigade can be sold to Congress as funding for the war on terror. The 
plan will likely pass the House, but faces tougher scrutiny in the 
Senate.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Josh