I o lP January TO Paul Wolfowitz 1 ROM Donald Rumsfeld SUBJECT Colombia 15 2002 7 58 AM @ Q Here is an article on Colombia It appears there is some legislative change we may need or interpretation so that we can deal with terrorism in Colombia using the capabilities that were authorized for drug funds It seems to me that the problems are intermixed r' 0 'I v ' 'What do you propose Thanks Altach H 15 02 DeYoung Washington Post U S Eyes Shift in Colombia Policy IHll 6 011502·3 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Please respond by _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ -- vi '-l Q r' Ul 3 l 6t1 02 washing onpost com U S Eyes Shift in Colombia Policy Page 1 of2 U S Eyes Shift in Colombia Policy Greater Aid for War Against Leftist Guerrillas Sought By Karen DeYoung Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday lnnuary 15 2002 Page AO The Bush administration is considering expanding U S counternarcotics assistance to Colombia to give more aid to that country's counterinsurgency war against leftist guerrillas according to administration officials Proposals under high-level discussion include increased intelligence sharing on guerrilla activities around the country and training of an additional battalion of Colombian troops to serve as a rapidreaction force protecting vital infrastructure including pipelines used by U S oil companies against guerrilla attack The U S military has trained three such battalions in the past two years but they have been restricted to countcmarcotics activities as has virtually all U S military assistance in Colombia U S -provided military equipment including helicopters is also limited under law to countemarcotics use although the Colombim government is pressing for those restrictions to be lifted Officials stressed that none of the proposals include the possibility of direct American combat involvement in Colombia But expansion of U S assistance and training beyond the fight against production and export of illegal drugs would represent a quantum leap in a highly sensitive area of U S policy Since massive amounts of U S military aid began flowing to Colombia less than two years ago Congre s has repeatedly warned against mission creep into a Vietnam-like counterinsurgency war High-level consideration of the proposals one official said is a direct result of the Sept 11 terrorist attacks on the United States Before then there would have been no debate or only a very limited debate 1bout whether to even think about extending beyond countemarcotics aid the official said At least no· · these arc debatable propositions The mo 11entum begun with September's attacks moved into high gear last weekend after Colombian President Andres Pastrana unexpectedly suspended three-year-old peace talks with the Revolutionary Armed orces of Colombia FARC the cowitry's largest guerrilla group Pastrana ordered FARC troops to evacuate the Switzerland-sized zone he granted the rebel group in 1998 to encourage negotiations His a1U1Junccment sent Colombian anny troops to mass near the zone in preparations for reoccupying it and driving out the FARC if a deadline set at 9 30 last night passed without subS1antive rebel concessions Right-wing paramilitary troops fighting their own war against the guerrillas in frequent alliance with the anny were also prepared to move and there were widespread fears of impending civilian massacres For its part the FARC was expected to launch attacks throughout the country Pastrana's ultimatum sent senior U S officials into urgent weekend discussions over what one called authoriz ations and resources - what the United States was equipped and allowed to do under Jaw and congressional restrictions in aiding the Colombian military Officials were in the middle of an interagency meeting on the subject late yesterday afternoon when news arrived that the 9 30 p m deadline had been suspended at least temporarily following last-ditch mediation by a group of international diplomats working with the United Nations in Colombia http w lW was hingtonpost com ac2 wp-dyn A45775-2002Ja n 14 language printer 1 15 2002 • washingt0npost com U S Eyes Shift in Colombia Policy ' Page 2 of2 Whether peace talks get back on track or not however Colombia's multi-front war will continue and it is fair to 5ay we are looking for other ways to help the government prevail said another administration official wbo like all those contacted declined to be identified At the very least officials said there are now six clays to think about it before Pastrana's next deadline arrives Sunday The Pastrana government which will leave office following elections this summer has argued with increasing urgency that the United States must have a more comprehensive military program in Colombia When the Bush administration which made few changes in the bipartisan Colombia policy inherited from its predecessor launched a policy review several months ago a number of officials led by senior civilians in the Defense Department argued that the line drawn between countemarcotics and coun1erinsurgcncy was an artificial one that lessened the effectiveness of U S aid Both the Clinton administration's Plan Colombia lhe $1 3 billion Colombia aid package passed by Congress in 2000 and the Bush administration's $625 million Andean Regional Initiative approved in December came with sharp congressional restrictions on how the aid could be used U S -trained troops and military equipment and most U S intelligence are restricted to the fight against narcotics trafficking in Colombia which provides more than 90 percent of all cocaine and a major part of the hcrnin in this coW1try Colombian troops eligible for U S training have to be thoroughly vetted for past htunan rights abuse and association with the paramilitaries But since the Colombian military has been low to move against those with paramilitary tics and all three of Colombia's insurgent groups are deeply involved in the drug business the lines have been difficult to maintain Intelligence cooperation became even more problematic after the suspension of U S drug surveillance and tracking flights over both Colombia and Peru last spring when a CIA-guided Peruvian Air Force fighter shot down an aircraft carrying American missionaries in the mistaken belief they were drug traffickers Although the administration completed its investigation into the matter last summer it has taken no action to reinstitute the intelligence sharing or flights Under the proposals being discussed that intelligence cooperation would be reactivated and expanded to include information on guerrilla activities outside the bounds of counterdrug actions A battalion of as many as 1 000 Colombian troops would be trained as a rapid-reaction force to protect infrastructure and consideration would be given to providing additional equipment to the Colombian army for that pUIJ OSC fficiab said the assistance could be justified under force protection doctrines already in place That justification would be made easier they said by President Bush's inclusion of all three Colombian insurgency groups on the administration's new lists of international terrorist organizations Whethe1· the anti-terrorist rationale would fly with Congress has yet to be tested said one official --- 0 2002 The Washington Post Company http ' o' W washingtonpost com ac2 wp-dyn A4 S775-2002Jan 14 language printer J 1 15 2002 This document is from the holdings of The National Security Archive Suite 701 Gelman Library The George Washington University 2130 H Street NW Washington D C 20037 Phone 202 994-7000 Fax 202 994-7005 nsarchiv@gwu edu