COLOMBIA WARS WON'T BE ANOTHER VIETNAM FOR U.S.

WASHINGTON -- Colombia is beset by a confluence of difficulties with
profound implications for the United States, Latin America and Europe.

A decades-old civil conflict has taken a dramatic turn for the worse
by the injection of narcotics production and trafficking, which feed
the coffers of the guerillas, paramilitaries and crime gangs and
strengthen their assault on democratic institutions.

Insurgent and paramilitary-bred violence decreases investor confidence
and further undermines the economy. Serious unemployment creates a
ready pool of individuals ripe for recruiting by the armed groups.

These misfortunes threaten not just Colombia but its neighbors and
many others around the world. Drug trafficking and the corruption,
violence and money laundering engendered by drugs respect no
boundaries. Cocaine and heroin flowing out of Colombia poison young
Brazilians, Germans and North Americans without distinction.

Threats to democracy and human rights concern us all. The
clear-cutting of the Colombian tropical rainforest to plant coca and
poppy and the pollution of the Amazon basin with toxic chemicals by
the drug producers debase the environment.

Colombia, under the leadership of President Andres Pastrana, has
developed a comprehensive plan ("Plan Colombia") to address these
problems. Its central tenet is that the only real solution to
Colombia's ills is peace and development.

Plan Colombia calls for large-scale investments to revitalize the
economy, strengthen democratic institutions, enhance respect for human
rights, protect the environment, provide alternative income sources to
small-scale coca growers and undertake a vigorous counter-drug program
to re-establish the rule of law and deprive the illegal armed groups
and criminal elements of their source of illicit income.

Plan Colombia and U.S. support for it have been frequently
misunderstood and misconstrued in the U.S. media. Some claim Plan
Colombia to be a U.S. plan, aimed at fighting insurgents, certain to
"militarize" Colombia, produce "another Vietnam," exacerbate civil
conflict, heighten human rights violations, poison the environment,
etc. All false.

For starters, Plan Colombia was designed by Colombians for
Colombia.

It calls for a total investment of about $7.5 billion, 75 percent of
which will go to economic and social spending, including strengthening
of human rights, with only 25 percent to counter-drug efforts. Of
this, $1 billion of a $1.3 billion appropriation consists of a U.S.
support package passed with strong bipartisan backing in Congress and
signed into law in July. About $230 million of the U.S. contribution
is destined for social, economic, environmental and democracy-building
purposes. The Colombians are committed to spending $4.5 billion of
their own money, with the remainder coming from international donors.

U.S. support for counter-drug activities in Colombia is just that. Our
support is not to be used for counter-insurgency purposes, and our
personnel are prohibited from engaging in combat. U.S. military
personnel train only Colombian counter-drug units, and our military
presence in Colombia is capped by Congress at 500 personnel at any
time. The number in Colombia now is well below that cap. This is not
and never will be another Vietnam.

No U.S. assistance can be provided to any Colombian military or police
unit for which we have credible evidence of the commission of gross
human rights violations. Colombia is taking serious strides to improve
human rights conditions but much more remains to be done. Our support
for Plan Colombia will have a positive effect on the human rights picture.

Colombia, with U.S. support, recently successfully eradicated tens of
thousands of acres of coca plantations in the southern part of the
country -- especially Putumayo.

This has been done mainly through aerial eradication using a herbicide
approved for domestic use in the United States.

Claims of widespread environmental damage are untrue. Spraying of coca
fields is the only feasible way of eliminating agro-industrial coca
production in Putumayo. Small-scale producers who agree to manually
eradicate their crops will be helped by the Colombian government to
find alternative means of making a livelihood. The goal is not to
punish these people but to help wean them from the production of
illegal crops.

Finally, Plan Colombia is a peace plan and the United States firmly
supports that goal, as President Bush clearly underscored in his Feb.
27 meeting with President Pastrana.

Stories about the United States "waging war" on the Colombian people
are misrepresentations of fact. Colombians, like people anywhere, want
peace, freedom and the chance to make an honest living. They yearn to
be free of the curse of civil strife and the drug industry that fuels
the violence.

It is in the collective self-interest of the democracies of the world
to support Colombia in its hour of need.

It is also the right thing to do. Colombia deserves our help.
Now.