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http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20020929/1040228.asp [If a classic example of an evil axis of terrorism exists, this is it: The U.S. Southern Command, employing former School of the Americas trained Colombian military death squad-linked counterinsurgency officers, is effectively absorbing the infamous Carlos Castano's so-called United Self-Defense Forces (AUC) - rechristened civilian militias - and turning them loose on resistance, peasant and trade union organizations, to protect Occidental Petroleum, Enron natural gas and the projected Darien overland canal interests of the Green (and Black) Popes in North America. But the project is even larger than Colombia itself. Washington has enmeshed several neighboring nations - Ecuador, Bolivia, Panama, Argentina, Peru and a reluctant Brazil - into a variant of NATO South, which was poised for a mutual attack against southern Colombia in December of 1999, only four months after the passage by the US House of so-called Plan Colombia and, a few weeks after that, the predictable waiving of the human rights rider attached to it. The U.S. continues to receive surveillance and other military assistance in this escalating war - the deadliest in the Western Hemisphere - from its NATO allies Great Britain and the Netherlands.] U.S. will train Colombians to fight insurgents By ANDREW SELSKY Associated Press - American troops will train Colombian soldiers and police to help them take control of a region of the country crawling with rebels and paramilitaries, a senior U.S. military officer said. The training by U.S. Special Forces is part of a larger American effort to help Colombia battle insurgents who have waged war in the South American country for 38 years. [T]he United States now plans to help Colombia attack the outlawed groups. -Jackman, director of operations for the U.S. Southern Command, outlined the new U.S. plan Friday in a rare meeting with journalists at the command's headquarters. Congress is preparing to provide about $95 million more to train and equip two Colombian army brigades. U.SW.special forces are expected to begin training the Colombian Army's 18th and 5th Brigades next month in specialized warfare to protect a pipeline that carries oil owned by Los Angeles-based Occidental Petroleum and hunt down rebels who have attacked it, Jackman said. They will also get U.S. combat helicopters. U.S. troops also will train Colombian National Police, Jackman said. 9/29/2002 MIAMI - American troops will train Colombian soldiers and police to help them take control of a region of the country crawling with rebels and paramilitaries, a senior U.S. military officer said. The training by U.S. Special Forces is part of a larger American effort to help Colombia battle insurgents who have waged war in the South American country for 38 years. In the past, U.S. military aid focused on stemming the flow of cocaine and heroin from Colombia and depriving rebels and their paramilitary foes of drug profits. But the United States now plans to help Colombia attack the outlawed groups. "Our approach to Colombia recognizes that the problem in Colombia is much more than drugs," Army Brig. Gen. Galen Jackman said. "The problem there is basically a crisis of governance, where the Colombians are not able to provide a safe and secure environment." Jackman, director of operations for the U.S. Southern Command, outlined the new U.S. plan Friday in a rare meeting with journalists at the command's headquarters. Congress is preparing to provide about $95 million more to train and equip two Colombian army brigades. As part of the move, U.S. officials are scrapping a directive by former President Bill Clinton that permits the United States to share intelligence with Colombia only when it deals with drug trafficking, Jackman said. Under that directive, U.S. officials who intercepted a satellite phone call by a rebel leader planning an attack would be unable to pass on the information to the Colombian army, even though the rebels are deeply involved in cocaine trafficking. A new directive being drafted by the Bush administration is expected to drop the restriction. "We need to treat (the rebels and paramilitaries) as they are, which are terrorist organizations, . . . and we need to help the Colombians deal with those organizations," Jackman said. U.S. Special Forces are expected to begin training the Colombian Army's 18th and 5th Brigades next month in specialized warfare to protect a pipeline that carries oil owned by Los Angeles-based Occidental Petroleum and hunt down rebels who have attacked it, Jackman said. They will also get U.S. combat helicopters. U.S. troops also will train Colombian National Police, Jackman said. "The idea there is to help secure the pipeline, . . . secure the region and get some of the social and economic programs going," Jackman said. The U.S. military trainers will operate in an area where rebels repeatedly have attacked the Colombian army and police. But he stressed that no plans call for involving U.S. forces in combat or raising the number of troops from the current level of 400. __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? New DSL Internet Access from SBC & Yahoo! http://sbc.yahoo.com --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.bacIlu Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
