Pubdate: Sat, 25 Aug 2001
Source: Palm Beach Post (FL)
Copyright: 2001 The Palm Beach Post
Contact:  http://www.gopbi.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/333
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/opinion.htm (Opinion)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/areas/colombia (Reports About Colombia)

FRONT LINE IN COLOMBIA LOOKING LIKE QUICKSAND

Congress has approved $1.3 billion, most of it in military aid, to help 
Colombia fight drug traffickers who supply America's habit. More than half 
of the money has been disbursed, but the State Department's deceptive 
training practices and a new law signed by Colombian President Andres 
Pastrana should make Congress reconsider whether it should release the $500 
million scheduled for approval this fall.

Lawmakers said last year that no more than 300 civilian contract workers 
could be involved in Colombia's drug eradication effort, which battles two 
left-wing rebel groups and some right-wing paramilitaries, all of which 
finance their operations with drug money. Fears of a Vietnam-style quagmire 
led Congress to limit the scope of American involvement. The order 
specified civilians because there is a relatively new practice of 
contracting with private companies to provide training and serve as 
"advisers," a loaded term since Vietnam.

As it turns out, however, the State Department hired DynCorp to provide 
training and support in Colombia, then encouraged the company to hire 
non-U.S. citizens as pilots and to fill other roles. Why? Because the State 
Department interpreted Congress' cap as applying only to U.S. citizens. So 
DynCorp already has exceeded the 300 limit.

As if games-playing by the State Department weren't bad enough, President 
Pastrana has just signed a bill that removes human-rights safeguards that 
were an important part of Congress' decision to provide military aid. 
Because Colombia's military had had a terrible record of slaughtering 
civilians -- or winking while paramilitary troops carried out the slaughter 
- -- President Pastrana had promised that newly formed, specially vetted and 
trained battalions would conduct the drug war. The new law, however, passed 
and signed under pressure from the military, lets officers declare martial 
law in some zones, blocks civilian investigations of military actions and 
allows the military to detain prisoners, without civilian supervision, 
indefinitely.

Mr. Pastrana, who leaves office in a year, is frustrated that rebels in the 
two main groups -- the FARC and ELN -- have not negotiated in good faith, 
despite government concessions that include creation of a huge safe zone 
that the rebels have exploited to carry on their drug trade and war. The 
war in Colombia is getting dirtier, and the United States is getting into 
it deeper than lawmakers intended. If Congress can't reverse those alarming 
trends, lawmakers should pull the money and spend it in this country on 
treatment for addicts.
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MAP posted-by: GD