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 Fax: (515) 284-8560 Feedback: http://desmoinesregister.com/help/letter.html Website: http://www.dmregister.com/ 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. - --- MAP posted-by: Kirk Bauer