----- Original Message ----- From: Frida Berrigan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <undisclosed-recipients: ;> Sent: Tuesday, February 27, 2001 7:36 PM Subject: U.S. Paramilitaries Widen the War in Colombia February 27, 2001 Dear Friends, Colombian President Andres Pastrana is in Washington today to meet with President Bush. Below in an op-ed being circulated by our friends at Foreign Policy in Focus. A longer version of same is posted on their website at http://www.foreignpolicy-infocus.org/commentary/0102colombia.html Thanks, Frida ================== ================== U.S. "PARAMILITARIES" WIDEN THE WAR IN COLOMBIA By Frida Berrigan, World Policy Institute President Bush worries that the "United States might become militarily engaged" in Colombia. It's a little late for that. While official U.S. soldiers and airmen try to avoid the appearance of armed engagement, U.S. paramilitaries-private sector warriors under contract to the Pentagon-were involved in an exchange of fire between FARC guerillas and Colombian police last week. It's all part of U.S. long term military plans in the region-even if George W. Bush hasn't figured them out yet. Whether they are called paramilitaries, mercenaries or private military advisers, they are certainly an integral part of the growing U.S. involvement in the war in Colombia. The February 18 exchange of fire between FARC guerrillas and Colombian police, which involved a DynCorp Search and Rescue helicopter flown by M-16 toting Americans, made the depth of U.S. engagement obvious for the first time since Congress voted yes on Plan Colombia-the $1.3 billion aid package-eight months ago. DynCorp, based in Reston, Virginia, is the largest of a growing number of private military corporations. It boasts $1.4 billion in contracts a year-95% with the U.S. government-and has 30 personnel in Colombia, mostly pilots and mechanics for helicopters and fumigation planes. The incident, in which the DynCorp helicopter rescued the pilot amid what one Colombian police officer described as a "shower of bullets," highlighted the presence of U.S. civilians in the conflict region. In the last two years at least six U.S. private military corporations have set up offices in Bogota, positioning themselves to receive aid package dollars and raising serious questions about accountability and transparency. While American soldiers in Colombia are under strict orders to avoid entering combat areas or joining military operations, employees of DynCorp and other private corporations face no such restrictions and are not required to report to the Pentagon or Congress. Many, including former Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey, are in favor of this arrangement. McCaffrey says, "I am unabashedly an admirer of outsourcing. There's very few things in life you can't outsource." Proponents of outsourcing say it is cheaper and helps avoid the public outrage over U.S. troops being sent home in body bags. DynCorp lost three pilots in three years in Colombia and hardly anyone noticed. By contrast, when five active duty American soldiers were killed in a spy plane crash in the Colombian jungle, the incident occupied the front page for days. "It is very handy to have an outfit not part of the U.S. Armed Forces, obviously. If someone gets killed, or whatever," you can say he's not a soldier, said Myles Frenchette, former U.S. ambassador to Colombia. The U.S. allocation of almost $120 million to renovate and upgrade air bases in El Salvador, Ecuador, and the Caribbean is another sign of the escalating U.S. military operations in the region. The FARC called it a "declaration of war." A recent Washington Post article exposed U.S. expansion of the Ecuadorian air base, which is home to 150 military advisers, mechanics, and crew. By summer 2001 the base will be able to accommodate surveillance planes and over 400 personnel. This was news to many, including members of Congress like Arizona Senator John McCain, who confessed, "We're upgrading a base in Ecuador, which I found out-perhaps I shouldn't admit this-by looking at a newspaper." Base expansion also has ramifications for Colombia's neighbors. The mayor of an Ecuadorian border town said "If Colombia is going to be another Vietnam, then Ecuador is going to become the Cambodia. We are being dragged into the conflict against our will." Plan Colombia, complete with private military actors, base expansions, and military training programs, epitomizes what President Bush recently called "our ugly American problem." Bush could use his meeting with Pastrana to develop an alternative Plan Colombia that provided resources for sustainable development, humanitarian assistance, and judicial and civil institutions, as a way of concretely and proactively addressing the challenges Colombia faces. Otherwise, military expansion-whether private or official U.S. army-seems inevitable. Frida Berrigan Research Associate, World Policy Institute 66 Fifth Ave., 9th Floor New York, NY 10011 ph 212.229.5808 x112 fax 212.229.5579
