Pubdate: Sat, 25 Aug 2001
Source: Houston Chronicle (TX)
Copyright: 2001 Houston Chronicle
Contact:  http://www.chron.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/198
Author: Michael Hedges

U.S. OFFICIALS WEIGH COLOMBIA'S AID NEEDS

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration is conducting an "agonizing" 
review of its policy toward Colombia, weighing options to bolster a 
democracy battered by drug cartels and guerrillas.

That review includes a look at ways to enhance U.S. help to Colombia 
in its war against Marxist rebel forces.

At present, U.S. policy is directed toward fighting drug traffickers 
in the nation but not the leftist guerrillas, who control a 
significant portion of the country. The review is exploring whether 
the White House should acknowledge that the rebels and drug 
traffickers are inextricably linked.

"It's some agonizing decisions there," Peter Rodman, assistant 
secretary of defense for international security affairs, said this 
week. "And I think there is a consensus that there is an important 
American interest, but there is not necessarily a consensus about 
what the right way to serve that interest is."

Next week, a delegation of U.S. officials representing the National 
Security Council, the State Department, Justice Department and other 
agencies is going to Colombia to meet with President Andres Pastrana.

Keeping the democratic government in Colombia sovereign in a country 
wracked by civil war and ravaged by drug cartels has become one of 
the administration's top foreign policy priorities, along with the 
Middle East and Iraq, high-ranking officials said.

Balancing the desire to help Colombia is the fear of getting involved 
in a conflict with guerrilla groups that makes any policy shift in 
the region difficult.

So far, that balancing act has been maintained by agreeing to help 
Colombia fight the cartels, but not the guerrillas with whom the 
cartels are aligned.

But, a congressional aide said, "In reality, it is already a 
distinction without a difference. Things have gotten so blurred in 
Colombia between the drug cartels and the guerrillas that the whole 
thing is just one giant security problem three hours from Miami."

Among questions considered, Rodman said, is, "Should our policy, 
which obviously includes a military component, have a rationale 
beyond just narcotics?"

Any U.S. policy shift with Colombia would be a long-term process that 
could not occur without first being requested by Colombia and backed 
by bipartisan support in the U.S. Congress.

So far, Pastrana has asked for American help in fighting drug 
cartels, but has avoided complicating his war with insurgents by 
seeking outside involvement.

A Bush foreign policy official said, "As of now, our Colombia policy 
remains as it has been, the three-D policy of fighting drugs, aiding 
economic development and upholding democracy."

There are no immediate plans to make a "drastic" shift in that 
policy, the official said.

But "it is difficult to draw a clear line. The drug cartels are 
supporting the rebels by giving them money for arms in return for 
protection. So our policy has been that by helping to fight the drug 
cartels you are helping support the effort to restore rule of law to 
Colombia," said the official.

The Colombian government is involved in a more than a 40- year-old 
struggle with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, 
and other insurgent groups. The war is complicated by the involvement 
of well-armed right-wing paramilitary groups that have attacked towns 
and outposts in guerilla territory.

During their meetings next week, the U.S. officials will inform 
Pastrana that the Bush administration has deep concerns about his 
policy of giving leftist guerrillas control over a huge zone in 
Colombia.

Pastrana gave the Switzerland-sized chunk of Colombia to the FARC as 
a demilitarized zone in 1998. In October, Pastrana must announce 
whether that territory will continue in that capacity.

Recent reports of terrorists, including Irish Republican Army 
bombers, training in the FARC zone have troubled Bush foreign policy 
aides.

Three alleged IRA terrorists, Niall Connolly, Martin McCauley and 
James Monaghan, were charged this week by the Colombian government 
with training FARC guerrillas.

"No one should be in any doubt that the United States would be 
greatly concerned about any assistance, information sharing, training 
or collaboration with the FARC," said U.S. State Department spokesman 
Philip Reeker.

The Bush administration has so far backed a plan passed by Congress 
and signed by former President Clinton called Plan Colombia. It has 
provided $1.3 billion to Colombia to train troops and provide them 
with helicopters and other weapons to attack cocaine and heroin 
growers and processors in southern regions.

Colombia has received about $1 billion so far, officials said, 
including helicopters and U.S. training of several battalions of 
troops.

"To go from counter-narcotics to counter-insurgency will be a tough 
sell up here," conceded a senior Republican staff member involved in 
international issues. "The fear, of course, is that Colombia will be 
another place where we are going to get mired down in a war."

Many congressional leaders are on record opposing any expansion of 
U.S. involvement in Colombia. The precise way in which U.S. aid to 
Colombia can be used has been the subject of heated debate on Capitol 
Hill.
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