Pubdate: Thu, 01 Mar 2001 Source: Newsday (NY) Copyright: 2001 Newsday Inc. Contact: 235 Pinelawn Rd., Melville NY 11747 Fax: (516)843-2986 Website: http://www.newsday.com/homepage.htm Forum: http://www.newsday.com/forums/forums.htm BUSH IS RIGHT: U.S. MUST STAY OUT OF COLOMBIA'S WAR President George W. Bush is taking a properly cautious approach toward U.S. relations with Colombia, a troubled Latin American democracy riven by a vicious civil war tied to the drug trade. His initial message to Colombia is clear: Let's be friends and do more business, but don't try to involve us in your war. After his meeting this week with Colombian President Andres Pastrana, Bush said he would move to renew and expand a regional trade agreement sought by Colombia to revive its moribund economy. The idea is to generate new jobs for workers in the illegal drug trade, from cultivation to distribution. But Bush declined pleas from Pastrana and Colombia's largest rebel group to participate in peace talks. Bush was right to say the negotiations are an issue for the Colombian people to resolve. But he may have to go further and ensure that the massive $1.3-billion military-aid package granted Colombia by President Bill Clinton to fight illegal drugs is not used primarily to fight the leftist rebels. He also should be prepared to deal with a paradox of the drug war in Colombia: A successful crackdown there is likely to shift the narcotic crops to neighboring nations such as Ecuador, potentially broadening guerrilla activity and threatening the stability of other governments in the region. Ecuador already has asked Washington for help in countering the expected move of drug cartels into its territory. Pastrana went out of his way earlier to say that Colombia would never be like Vietnam for the United States. But the very fact that he had to offer such assurances shows the level of concern about possible U.S. military involvement in the civil conflict and drug war. And because the real issue is reducing the use of drugs in the United States, Bush should listen to his own secretary of defense, Donald Rumsfeld, who told a Senate committee recently that the nation would be better off focusing on reducing demand at home rather than trying to restrict supply abroad. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens