28 October 2004
U.S. Officials Confirm Colombia Curtailing Narco-Terrorism
State Department, White House officials reject Chicago Tribune editorial
By Eric Green
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- U.S. officials from the State Department and White House rejected a Chicago Tribune editorial that they say paints an inaccurate picture of the situation in Colombia and makes false claims that U.S. help for the Andean nation is not working.
In a letter to the Tribune published October 27, Marc Grossman, the State Department's under secretary for political affairs, rejected the paper's analysis that U.S. support for Colombia represents a "failing exercise." Contrary to assertions in the Tribune's October 12 editorial, Grossman said Colombia is making progress in its fight against narco-terrorism, and he predicted that, with help from the United States, the Colombian people will create a safe, prosperous society that respects human rights.
Grossman said "it is because of success" in Colombia that the U.S. Congress approved legislation October 9 that authorized increasing the number of U.S. military personnel in Colombia from 400 to 800 and the number of American citizens working for private contractors from 400 to 600.
On that point, Grossman objected to the Tribune's charge that increasing the number of U.S. personnel allowed in Colombia constitutes "mission creep." Rather, Grossman said, the mission for these personnel is unchanged: "help the Colombian government confront the threats to democracy posed by narcotics trafficking and terrorism, and promote respect for human rights and the rule of law."
U.S. personnel are in Colombia in a supporting role, and do not engage in combat operations, said Grossman.
The Tribune editorial, entitled "Sliding into Colombia's Morass," said it is "deeply troubling" to see the U.S. Congress "reflexively increase the U.S. military involvement in Colombia." The Tribune said U.S. policy in Colombia "is not working. This nation needs to rethink its involvement in Colombia's civil war, rather than pouring more money and personnel into a failing enterprise." The Tribune also said that the Bush administration's official designation of Colombia's guerrillas and paramilitary groups as terrorist organizations, on par with al-Qaida or the Taliban, is "an analogy that rings false."
In his rebuttal to the editorial, Grossman also said the Colombian economy grew by 3.7 percent in 2003, and is expected to grow by 3.8 percent in 2004. He added that violence in the country is at the lowest level in decades, while drug-crop eradication, drug interdiction and drug-related arrests are at record-high levels.
"Colombians are fighting to defend their democracy against narco-terrorism, and the U.S. government is proud to help them," said Grossman. He added, "There is still much to be done in Colombia -- by Colombians -- to create a safe, prosperous society that respects human rights. With our help, I believe they will succeed."
In a separate action, Rafael Lemaitre, deputy press secretary for the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, said in an October 22 letter to the Tribune that the newspaper's editorial "ignores overwhelming evidence of Plan Colombia's success and cites inaccurate information regarding U.S. counterdrug policy in the region." Plan Colombia is an initiative launched by the Colombian government to fight Colombia's illegal drug trade, protect human rights, and expand economic development.
Lemaitre said the Tribune's assertion that coca cultivation in Colombia has simply "just moved from one place to another" is false. Lemaitre said the U.S.-funded aerial eradication campaign against coca -- the raw ingredient for cocaine -- has produced a "dramatic" 33 percent decline in coca cultivation during the past two years alone, and overall coca cultivation in the Andean region (Colombia, Bolivia, and Peru) has also declined by 22 percent since 2001, "dispelling the so-called 'balloon effect' theory, which implies that we cannot make overall reductions in the supply of illegal drugs."
The White House official said that with U.S. support, Colombia's President Alvaro Uribe is making progress combating the same narco-terrorist groups that "export these dangerous, addictive poisons to Chicago" and the rest of the United States.
Lemaitre said the "so-called 'failing enterprise,'" as described in the Tribune editorial, "has also contributed to a huge drop in murders, terror attacks, and kidnappings of innocent people in Colombia."
It is "crucial" to note, said Lemaitre, "that U.S. personnel in Colombia do not engage in combat. They instead provide training to human rights-vetted counterdrug and counterterrorism units in Colombia."
Lemaitre also rejected the Tribune's assertion that the United States has not made a "dent" in its own drug problem. The official said this charge "is disputed by the fact that over the past two years, overall drug use among young people in America declined by 11 percent."
This figure also includes cocaine use in the United States, Lemaitre said. He said that overall drug use in America since 1979 has dropped by more than 50 percent.
"Indeed, there is clear evidence that when we work to reduce the demand and supply of illegal drugs, the [Western] Hemispheric drug problem gets smaller," said Lemaitre.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
This page printed from: http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2004&m=October&x=20041028125640AEneerG0.6618616&t=livefeeds/wf-latest.html
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