DEFENSE OFFICIAL QUESTIONS US POLICY ON COLOMBIA

WASHINGTON A top Defense Department official raised doubts Tuesday about
whether the United States is on the right course in Colombia with its
counter-narcotics and social and economic development policies.

"I think we as a country are not quite sure where we're heading," said
Peter Rodman, assistant secretary of defense for international security
affairs.

"I think there's a consensus that there's an important American interest,"
Rodman said, "but there's not necessarily a consensus about what the right
way to serve that interest is."

Rodman, speaking to reporters, said an interagency policy review in search
of alternate approaches is under way.

He said many in Congress are concerned about whether countering the flow of
narcotics should be the main U.S. goal, or whether there is "some wider
stake we may have in the survival of a friendly democratic government."

Congress provided $1.3 billion to Colombia last year for counter-narcotics
activities and for social and economic development.

The Bush administration also is seeking increased funding for neighboring
countries in the event that narcotics traffickers move their operations to
these countries from Colombia.