=============================================== President Clinton, whose aides have warned that Colombia's viability as a nation is at stake, said he was "grateful" for the Senate action. ___________________ =============================================== NEW YORK TIMES Friday, 23 June 2000 Bankrolling Colombia's War on Drugs House and Senate Will Now Reconcile Bills ----------------------------------------- By Christopher Marquis WASHINGTON -- Nearly a year after President Andres Pastrana of Colombia asked the United States for emergency aid to battle narcotics traffickers and their rebel allies, the Senate cleared the way today for a package of $1.3 billion. The American assistance, which is to include money for training special Colombian army battalions and for sophisticated attack and transport helicopters, advanced as senators approved a $13.4 billion foreign aid bill that included the money for the besieged South American nation. The legislation also included about $1.5 billion to keep American troops in Kosovo and an undisclosed amount-officials estimated about $500 million-to pay for reconstruction in Los Alamos, N.M., after a devastating fire. Congressional officials said today that they expect to reconcile the Senate aid package for Colombia with a more generous version approved by the House in March and then attach it to a popular bill to pay for military construction as early as next week. While the legislation approved today would provide slightly under $1 billion to Colombia, senators said the figure would rise to $1.3 billion in the final compromise bill with the House. The aid package will result in a vastly increased American commitment in Colombia, a country in the midst of a civil war that is the source of 90 percent of the cocaine reaching the United States. Working closely with American officials, Mr. Pastrana unveiled an ambitious plan last year to pay for a Colombian military drive into rebel-controlled territory in the south. Included in the plan is a request for 30 highly sophisticated long-range Blackhawk helicopters and at least 35 Huey II helicopters for ferrying troops, Colombian officials said. The specific mix of the American aircraft remains in dispute as House lawmakers approved the more expensive Blackhawks, while senators favored sending Hueys. President Clinton, whose aides have warned that Colombia's viability as a nation is at stake, said he was "grateful" for the Senate action. "The quicker we can reach agreement and show that the United States is committed to a democracy and to fighting the drug wars in Colombia, and to strengthening the oldest democracy in America, the better off we're going to be," Mr. Clinton said. With strong American backing, Colombian officials will now be able to seek additional support from European nations and international financial institutions, Mr. Clinton said. But some lawmakers said that the United States risks increasingly being drawn into an unwinnable war-reminiscent of Vietnam-with Colombian military allies that have a poor human rights record. "We have made a profound and dramatic shift in focus from supporting a police force in a friendly country to supporting an army engaged in a civil war," said Senator Slade Gorton, a Washington Republican. "I wonder how long it will be until we read the first news story of some of this equipment showing up in the hands of rebels." President Pastrana's strategy, called the Plan Colombia, seeks at least $3.5 billion in international aid in the next three years. In addition to expanding law enforcement, the plan calls for public investments to stimulate the lagging economy. Senator Paul Coverdell, a Georgia Republican, said that the move today signaled "a turning point in this whole struggle" against Colombian drug cartels by demonstrating a strong bipartisan resolve to step up American support and provide training to special anti-narcotics battalions. Colombian officials applauded the Senate action, which came in a 95-4 vote for the overall foreign aid bill. "We are definitely pleased," said Luis Alberto Moreno, Colombia's ambassador to Washington. "This means there is strong bipartisan support behind Plan Colombia at a critical moment in Colombian history." Mr. Moreno said Colombia will insist on the House-approved Blackhawks because of their superior versatility. But even some Colombians voiced misgivings about the widening of the military campaign to suppress drugs. Gen. Rosso Jose Serrano, the national police chief whose anti-narcotics leadership has won praise from American lawmakers, said the battle would best be waged by curbing demand in the United States and other countries. "We'd rather see drug consumption drop than get any of this aid," said Mr. Serrano, who is stepping down this week after more than five years in his post. If consumption were dramatically reduced, Colombia "could go back to what it once was, a place that grew coffee, where people worked hard and sweated for a paycheck," he said in an interview with the Associated Press. The Senate foreign aid bill was $1.7 billion less than the Clinton administration had requested, but it has not drawn a veto threat. Under pressure from the Pentagon, senators approved money to keep nearly 6,000 American troops in Kosovo. The Clinton administration has fought to maintain the American presence in the Balkans, despite growing uneasiness in Congress over the open-ended United States commitment in both Kosovo and Bosnia. The Senate also increased spending by $30 million to $255 million for international efforts to fight AIDS, and added $10 million for a total of $66 million to battle the global spread of tuberculosis. But it provided only $75 million in assistance to the world's poorest countries, a reduction from the administration's $262 million request. Copyright 2000 The New York Times Company --- from list [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---