>From: "Peter McWilliams" >Subject: Prelude to an explosion >Date: Sun, 9 Jan 2000 22:14:28 -0800 >X-Mozilla-Status: 8001 >X-Mozilla-Status2: 00000000 > > >Waist-deep in the Big Muddy and the big fool says to push on. > >Watch this situation explode. > >Enjoy, > >Peter > >Pubdate: Sat, 08 Jan 2000 >Source: Washington Post (DC) >Copyright: 2000 The Washington Post Company >Address: 1150 15th Street Northwest, Washington, DC 20071 >Feedback: http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/edit/letters/letterform.htm >Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ >Author: Karen DeYoung, Washington Post Staff Writer > >U.S. TO GIVE COLOMBIA $1 BILLION TO FIGHT DRUGS > >President Clinton plans to announce a massive new aid program for >Colombia next week totaling more than $1 billion in military and >development assistance over the next two years. It will be used to >combat narcotics cultivation and trafficking and bolster that >country's beleaguered democracy. > >More than half the money will be in a White House request for a >supplemental appropriation for this fiscal year, with the remainder to >be part of the fiscal year 2001 budget that the administration is due >to send to Congress on Feb. 7, administration officials said. > >Colombia is the third-largest recipient of U.S. military aid, after >Egypt and Israel. It received nearly $300 million last year and is in >line for more than $200 million in the current budget. But >skyrocketing Colombian cocaine and heroin production and exports to >the United States, and the Bogota government's losing battle against >Marxist guerrillas involved in drug trafficking, led to bipartisan >consensus last year that the U.S. effort should be sharply increased. > >The basic framework of the administration's proposal has been >determined, although sources who declined to be identified cautioned >that discussions are still underway among the Office of Management and >Budget and the State Department, the Pentagon and the Office of >National Drug Control Policy on how the money will be distributed. The >White House plans to brief congressional leaders on the proposal >before it is announced. > >Congressional Republicans calling for stepped-up anti-drug action >criticized the administration last fall for promising, and then >failing to produce, a significant new aid plan for Colombia before the >current budget was adopted. In response, Clinton in December pledged a >package for early this year "that will be substantial, effective, and >have broad bipartisan support." An interagency task force has spent >months developing the administration's plan. > >Republicans introduced their own $1.6 billion, three-year aid proposal >in November, saying the Colombian situation has reached "crisis >proportions." Differences in the two plans are expected to reflect >competing views on whether the bulk of the money should go directly >into police and military counter-drug efforts, as the GOP would like, >or be more evenly divided between those efforts and government >infrastructure and economic assistance, as Colombian President Andres >Pastrana has requested. > >Debate over the proposals is likely to begin as early as the first >week in February, when a round of hearings on Colombia is planned. > >Acting at the administration's behest and with its help, Pastrana's >government put together a comprehensive plan last summer to train and >supply new equipment to Colombia's armed forces and anti-drug police, >provide education and develop alternative crops for Colombian peasants >who grow most of the drug-producing coca and poppies, reform the >judiciary and help bolster the economy ­ now in its deepest recession >in history. > >Pastrana asked the United States to help finance up to $3.5 billion of >the plan's three-year, $7.5 billion price tag. The administration's >failure to respond quickly helped send Pastrana's popularity >plummeting. At the same time, the government has confronted a >deteriorating military situation; lack of results in negotiations with >the largest of several armed rebel groups, the 20,000-strong >Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia; and a failing economy. > >Although Pastrana won the presidency 18 months ago with a large >majority on a promise to negotiate peace, a new poll shows that 68 >percent of Colombians surveyed view him unfavorably. The nationwide >poll was published yesterday in Bogota's El Espectador newspaper. > >Military aid to Colombia is complicated by the fact that rebel forces >simultaneously occupy most of the country's drug-producing areas ­ >where they control the peasants who grow the drug crops, facilitate >exports and tax traffickers ­ and are fighting to overthrow the >government. Although the Colombian military is charged with fighting >the rebels, the national police have primary anti-narcotics >responsibility, and the tasks frequently overlap. > >Republicans have argued that a major portion of U.S. aid should go to >the police as part of a stiffened anti-drug program, while the >administration ­ with strong Pentagon input ­ has said that only the >Colombian military can roust the insurgents permanently from >drug-producing areas, primarily in the southern part of the country. > >The administration proposal includes some additional aircraft, weapons >and communications equipment for the police. But it provides major >improvements in training, logistical and intelligence support for the >Colombian military, as well as upgraded equipment. The U.S. military >has already trained a 950-soldier quick-reaction counter-narcotics >battalion in the Colombian army and plans to produce at least two >more. The government plan and the GOP proposal also call for >improvement in regional drug interdiction efforts affecting Peru, >Bolivia and Venezuela. > >As it develops strategy to promote its plan, the administration also >must contend with potential criticism from congressional Democrats, >who want to limit aid to the Colombian military because of its >unsavory human rights record while avoiding U.S. involvement in >counterinsurgency efforts. > >Administration sources, who said the aid proposal includes programs to >improve human rights performance, maintain that the Colombian military >has already made major strides in stopping abuses. The Pentagon has >said it can ensure that U.S. assistance is used only in those areas of >the country where the anti-drug war is being >fought. > > >================================================================ > >This message is sent to you because you are subscribed to > the mailing list . >To unsubscribe, E-mail to: