REPORT: U.S. UNPREPARED TO FIGHT DRUG WAR

Congressional panel to criticize Clinton's record in Colombia

WASHINGTON — The United States has repeatedly bungled drug-fighting efforts
in Colombia, and its plan to step up those efforts is unlikely to curb the
flow of drugs anytime soon, according to a congressional audit obtained by
USATODAY.com.

"Although U.S.-provided assistance has enhanced Colombian counternarcotics
capabilities, it has sometimes been of limited utility because of
long-standing problems in planning and implementing its assistance," the
General Accounting Office says in a draft report.

The report, which will be the focus of a House Government Reform
subcommittee hearing Thursday, charges the State Department and the Pentagon
are unprepared to manage the $1.3 billion aid package the Clinton
administration approved in August. "At this point, the total cost and
activities required to meet the plan's goals remain unknown, and it will
likely take years before drug activities are significantly reduced."

"It raises serious questions about the administration's ability to manage
the program," Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., chairman of the committee on Criminal
Justice, Drug Policy and Human Resources, told USATODAY.com.

The U.S. program will aid Colombian President Andres Pastrana's Plan
Colombia, a three-year, $7.5 billion strategy aimed at strengthening the
economy and stemming the violence carried out by drug traffickers and armed
groups. Pastrana pledged $4 billion to the plan and asked the United States
and other countries to fund the rest.

But the GAO report questions Colombia's ability to handle the influx of U.S.
aid. "To date, the Colombian government has not demonstrated that it can
adequately manage and finance the projects and activities required to reduce
the country's narcotics threat," it says. "Uncertainties regarding
international financial support, the potential for a negotiated settlement
with the insurgent forces, and an end to human rights violations will affect
Colombia's response but to what degree remains unknown."

A human rights group invited to testify at the hearing plans to unveil a
secret government document it says shows U.S. intelligence analysts have
long had misgivings about the Colombian government's willingness to fight
some drug traffickers. The document, obtained by Amnesty International in
response to a Freedom of Information Act request, was written in the early
1990s as right-wing paramilitary leader Fidel Castano, wanted on charges of
mass murder, was consolidating his power in the country.

"How actively the (government of Colombia) pursues Castano may depend more
on how his paramilitary agenda complements Bogota's counterinsurgent
objectives rather than on his drug trafficking activities," says the Defense
Intelligence Agency analysis.

Amnesty and other human rights groups have long criticized Colombia's
government for turning a blind eye to paramilitary violence while
aggressively pursuing left-wing guerrillas, even though both have strong
ties to drug traffickers.

"The Clinton administration has presented the Colombian situation as one in
which they can have their cake and eat it, too — they can promote democracy,
protect human rights and fight drugs all at the same time," says Carlos
Salinas, acting director of government affairs for Amnesty International in
Washington, D.C., who obtained the document. "But what this document clearly
shows is that the Colombian situation is one of deadly conflicts of
interest."

Responding to the GAO report, Amnesty plans to testify that the Colombian
military's ties to right-wing paramilitaries dooms U.S. efforts in the
region. "We welcome the delays and hope they offer time for Plan Colombia to
be reconsidered and scrapped," says Andrew Miller, a Latin America
specialist for Amnesty. "Perhaps next year, not an election year, Congress
and the administration will be more level-headed."

A senior defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, says the
Colombian military has made improvements in human rights. "If there are
links (between the military and paramilitary groups), it obviously has to
stop. But it's also incumbent on those making the allegations to supply the
proof."

The official also objected to the report's conclusion the administration
will be unable to deliver the aid to Colombia. "In the past, the criticism
has focused on execution of drawdown," he says, referring to problems
getting surplus helicopters to Colombian security forces, which has been a
sore spot among Congressional Republicans. "But with Plan Colombia we've
done it right, we've done it differently."