IN HARM'S WAY - U.S. CONTRACTORS PLAY ROLE IN DRUG WAR

BOGOTA, Colombia - Flying missions over guerrilla-infested coca fields or
staffing remote radar stations in the jungle, private citizens from the
United States are working perilously close to the front lines of the drug
war in Colombia.

Referred to as contractors by the Washington agencies who hire them and
mercenaries by critics, they are supposed to number no more than 300 at a
time in the South American country.

Yet with the U.S. government providing much of its drug war aid to these
contractors, officials are already indicating that the ceiling needs to be
raised.

Some of the riskiest jobs in a $1.3 billion, U.S.-financed anti-drug
offensive in Colombia have been contracted to such companies as DynCorp of
Reston, Va., whose employees last month flew into a firefight to save the
crew of a downed Colombian police helicopter from leftist guerrillas.

DynCorp provides rescuers, mechanics and helicopter and airplane pilots for
aerial herbicide spraying missions over cocaine- and heroin-producing
plantations that are "taxed" and protected by the rebels.

Colombian Defense Minister Luis Fernando Ramirez acknowledged last week
that the work done by the American contract pilots is inherently dangerous.

"There is not only the risk they'll be shot at, but the risk that such a
plane will crash is very high," Ramirez said, pointing out that Colombia's
mountains make for tricky flying.

Because they are kept away from the media, it is difficult to know whether
DynCorp's employees live up to their image as a rowdy group of daredevils
and combat veterans. Janet Wineriter, a DynCorp spokeswoman, said that
under terms of the company's contract with the State Department, she
couldn't discuss DynCorp's operations in Colombia.

Some critics charge the contractors are being used in dicey areas to avoid
the scandal that would erupt if U.S. soldiers began returning from Colombia
in body bags.

Using contractors will "reduce the potential fallout when mistakes happen
or Americans are caught in harm's way," said Tim Reiser, an aide to Sen.
Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., a critic of U.S. military aid to Colombia.

While pointing out that no Americans have been killed by enemy fire on
spraying missions, a U.S. Embassy official admitted they regularly come
under attack.

"Sure, the Americans get shot at," said the official, who spoke on
condition of anonymity. "We had 125 bullet impacts on aircraft last year,
and I'm sure there were Americans who were flying some of those aircraft."

In addition to the roughly 300 U.S. troops currently in Colombia, the
Pentagon employs about 70 contractors, according to Steve Lucas, a
spokesman for the U.S. Southern Command.

Military Professional Resources Inc. of Alexandria, Va., has about 15 of
its staff providing general military expertise to Colombia's defense
ministry, Lucas said. Other contractors include radar technicians and a
private company operating reconnaissance planes.

U.S. Ambassador Anne Patterson recently told visiting members of Congress
that the ceiling of 300 U.S. contractors established by Congress last year
-- including those retained by the Pentagon, the State Department and the
U.S. Agency for International Development -- might need to be raised soon.

Colombia lacks enough qualified pilots to operate the fumigation aircraft
and helicopters to be delivered, and additional contractors are needed to
manage aid to human rights groups, the justice system and voluntary drug
crop eradication programs, embassy officials said.

About a third of the U.S. troops here are Green Berets training Colombian
soldiers at the Larandia army post, a two-hour drive from the stronghold of
the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the nation's biggest rebel group.

They are authorized to carry sidearms for self-defense but are prohibited
from joining operations.

"That's the rule. That's the law," Lucas said. "Ours is a supporting role
only."

Ramirez, the defense minister, said, "Fundamentally, it is the Colombian
soldiers and police who will do the fighting."