-Caveat Lector-
WASHINGTON TODAY: Bush may pursue more activist Colombia policy
By GEORGE GEDDA
The Associated Press
12/27/00 1:31 AM
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A hallmark of the Clinton administration's military
commitment to Colombia has been to help Colombian officials curb
narcotraffickers while staying out of the country's long-running civil war.
President-elect George Bush may not be as fussy about drawing such
distinctions. He could face a collision with Democrats over Colombia policy.
Under President Clinton's rules of engagement, leftist guerrillas are fair
game if they are part of the drug trafficking infrastructure, but U.S.
helicopters and other assistance should not otherwise be used against the
rebels.
As Clinton sees it, drug trafficking poses a threat to the United States but
Colombia's 35-year civil war doesn't.
The Bush team seems to think the current policy is too confining, a point
made by Robert Zoellick, a top foreign policy adviser to Bush, in a
no-press-allowed speech in late October.
"We cannot continue to make a false distinction between counterinsurgency
and counternarcotics efforts," said Zoellick, a State Department aide in the
first Bush administration a decade ago.
"The narcotraffickers and guerrillas compose one dangerous network," he
said.
A copy of Zoellick's prepared remarks was made available by his office. His
speech was delivered to a gathering of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Colombian rebels are believed to earn hundreds of millions of dollars
through their links to drug traffickers. The State Department recently cited
evidence that Colombia's leading rebel group supplied cocaine to a major
Mexican cartel in exchange for cash and possibly weapons.
Zoellick suggested that future U.S. support for Colombia would depend on
Colombian willingness to confront enemies of all stripes.
"If the legitimately elected leaders of Colombia demonstrate the political
will to take their country back from killers and drug lords, and if the
Colombian people are willing to fight for their own country, then the U.S.
should offer serious, sustained and timely financial, material and
intelligence support," Zoellick said.
But if the incoming Bush administration tries to alter the ground rules
along the lines suggested by Zoellick, it would almost certainly produce
Democratic opposition, particularly from Sens. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn., and
Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.
Many Democrats believe the Clinton administration already is too deeply
involved in Colombia, citing shortcomings in the human rights record of the
Colombian military and its continuing links with rightist paramilitary
groups that also have a reputation for brutality.
Zoellick sees the problem differently.
He said in October that the "forces of democracy" must join hands to combat
"new threats to security," such as that which exists in Colombia. His
comments made no reference to human rights problems that Democrats find
troubling.
The tougher line on Colombia was foreshadowed in an Aug. 25 speech by
then-candidate Bush himself who said U.S. assistance "will help the
Colombian government protect its people, fight the drug trade, halt the
momentum of the guerrillas and bring about a sensible and peaceful
resolution to this conflict."
In those comments, Bush gave equal billing to the need to curb
narcotraffickers and guerrillas. The Clinton approach has been to give
prominence to the counterdrug aspect of the problem.
Clinton angered many Democrats in August by waiving a legislative provision
which requires that Colombia meet certain human rights criteria before
further U.S. assistance can be dispensed. A $1.3 billion U.S. anti-drug
package was approved for Colombia last summer.
Wellstone, in an opinion piece in Tuesday's New York Times, delivered an
appeal for no more human rights waivers.
"Next month," he wrote, "the U.S. government must once again certify that
Colombia's military satisfies the conditions so that delivery of anti-drug
aid can continue in 2001.
"This time, the Bush administration's State Department must take a tough
stance: no waiver and no aid until all human rights conditions are met,"
Wellstone said. "Americans should not be supporting a partnership with a
military that does not meet these very basic standards."
------
EDITOR'S NOTE -- George Gedda has covered foreign affairs for The Associated
Press since 1968.
--------
On the Net:
State Department on Colombia aid:
http://www.state.gov/www/regions/wha/colombia/index.html
Copyright 2000 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not
be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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