-Caveat Lector- from - http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/020221/n21159120_1.html
Thursday February 21, 4:11 pm Eastern Time FACTBOX-Details of US anti-drug spending in Colombia By Elaine Monaghan WASHINGTON, Feb 21 (Reuters) - The United States has spent more than $1 billion in just over a year backing Colombian President Andres Pastrana's fight against drug-trafficking and rebels who profit from and protect the trade. Most of the cash has been in military aid, but the United States has not committed its own forces, except for training, and it has restricted its support to Colombian efforts against what it calls "narco-traffickers and narco-terrorists." Washington has avoided crossing into counterinsurgency efforts but is seeking support from Congress to help Colombia's army guard an oil pipeline targeted by rebels. The funding's main focus is on training, equipment, infrastructure development, intelligence support, detection and monitoring information to Colombian armed forces. But it also covers democracy and economy programs and crop-spraying to try to eradicate the source of the drugs. Here are some details on the U.S. tax dollars committed and spent in the name of stemming the flow of cocaine and heroin to U.S. streets from Colombia. PLAN COLOMBIA In mid-2000 the Clinton administration won approval from Congress for an additional $1.02 billion in mostly military aid to Pastrana's Plan Colombia, bringing the total support pledged that year for a two-year package to about $1.3 billion. It was the largest build-up in military aid to a Latin American state since El Salvador's civil war in the 1980s. A U.S. official said Wednesday that nearly 90 percent of that money had been committed or disbursed. The Bush administration also adopted Clinton's Plan Colombia when it took office in January 2001, but expanded the concept into an "Andean Regional Initiative" meant to address concerns of Colombia's neighbors that stopping drug production there would worsen the problem elsewhere. Plan Colombia's largest component was $390 million to train and equip two Colombian army battalions for anti-drug actions. Their purpose is to protect police from Marxist guerrillas when officers destroy coca and opium poppy plantations. So far the United States has delivered: -- Fourteen modern UH-60 Blackhawks to the Colombian army and two to the police; --Six souped-up "Huey 2" helicopters to Colombian police. Three more are being modified in Colombia; -- 33 UH-1N helicopters to anti-drug battalions; Twenty five Huey 2s are still to be delivered to the army, the first six in mid-March, a U.S. official said. Plan Colombia included $81 million to encourage Colombian peasants to voluntarily switch to legal crops and $130 million to improve the interception of drug flows, including upgrading radar systems on four P-3 airborne early warning planes that track traffickers crossing the Caribbean to the United States. Congress put a cap of 500 on the number of U.S. military personnel in Colombia, and 300 for U.S. civilian contractors. But the law allows Bush to waive the cap for 90 days in the event that U.S. soldiers are "involved in hostilities." BUSH INITIATIVES IN COLOMBIA Bush sought $731 million for the Andean Counterdrug Initiative in fiscal year 2002 that ends in September. This was part of a larger initiative including other programs not related to drug control that was worth about $882 million called the "Andean Regional Initiative." A U.S. official said Congress cut some of the drug funding and an estimated $645 million would actually be disbursed. Bush has also requested $731 million for the Andean Counterdrug Initiative in fiscal year 2003, including $439 million for Colombia, and an additional $98 million in military aid to help train a Colombian brigade to guard the 490-mile (780-km) Cano Limon pipeline whose oil field is operated by U.S. firm Occidental Petroleum Corp. (NYSE:OXY - news) <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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