Pubdate: Thu, 25 Apr 2002
Source: Columbus Dispatch (OH)
Section: News, Page 15A
Copyright: 2002 The Columbus Dispatch
Contact:  http://www.dispatch.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/93
Author: Carolyn Skorneck, Associated Press

U.S. TROOPS WILL HAVE NO COMBAT ROLE IN COLOMBIA, OFFICIAL SAYS

WASHINGTON -- A State Department official assured senators yesterday that 
U.S. soldiers will not be fighting Colombian rebels even if Congress lets 
Colombia use anti-drug helicopters and other equipment to battle the 
insurgents.

"Not one of us here is talking about U.S. troops in a combat role," said 
Marc Grossman, undersecretary of state for political affairs. "The 
Colombians need to take the brunt of this, but we need to be there to help 
them." The Bush administration has no intention of exceeding the limits of 
400 U.S. military trainers and 400 civilian contractors who were sent to 
join Colombian President Andres Pastrana's anti-drug Plan Colombia, 
Grossman told the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on the Western 
Hemisphere.

Also, the administration "will not stop our human-rights vetting of 
Colombian military units receiving U.S. assistance," Grossman said.

Sen. Chris Dodd, the subcommittee chairman, said the United States must 
fulfill its pledge to aid Colombia in its "hour of crisis -- a crisis that 
has profound implications for institutions of democracy in Colombia and 
throughout the hemisphere." Still, Dodd, D-Conn., asked what the 
administration hopes to accomplish by loosening restrictions on U.S. 
assistance.

"What we seek is flexibility that would enable Colombia to use U.S.- 
provided helicopters and the counterdrug brigade from Plan Colombia to 
fight terrorism some of the time as needed," Grossman said.

That unit, trained by U.S. officers, has shown "impressive results" in 
fighting drugs, said Army Maj. Gen. Gary Speer, acting commander in chief 
of the Southern Command. He noted that the brigade has not been accused of 
human-rights abuses.

Colombia's three main rebel groups -- the Revolutionary Armed Forces of 
Colombia, FARC; the National Liberation Army of Colombia, ELN; and the 
United Self-Defense Group of Colombia, AUC -- are on the State Department's 
list of foreign terrorist organizations. All three are self-financed 
through drug trafficking, Speer said.

Dodd said FARC recently had an estimated 17,000 members, while AUC had 
11,000. But support for the AUC has increased as FARC-sponsored violence 
grew, he said.

"When people are frightened, they will grasp onto whatever offers some 
security," Dodd said.

Colombia's military now views the AUC as a greater threat than the FARC or 
the ELN, Speer said. "The people in Colombia look at the AUC as doing 
something." Dodd criticized Colombia's exclusion of college-bound young 
people from military conscription. "Excluding the elites from having to 
bear the burden is contributing to dismembering of the fabric of society," 
he said.

"I have an eerie feeling you're going to be back here at this table next 
year telling me it's not getting better, it's getting worse," with the AUC 
growing to 18,000 people, Dodd said.
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