Why U.S. Is In Colombia

To the editor:

A very dear friend of mine who spends his retirement wintering in southern
Texas sends me some of your editorials on drug war issues because he knows
I like to write to papers. I would like to comment on one in your paper on
Tuesday, Jan. 2.

I want to compliment the editorial "Not our war, Bush should get U.S. out
of Colombia." The editorial listed several reasons why we are in Colombia.
Here are two the writer missed:

The Colombian army wants to remove the U'wa Indians from their homeland:
The U'wa Indians are stopping Occidental petroleum from drilling for an
estimated 1.5 billion barrels of oil on their ancestral lands. Ray Irani,
Occidental's chairman, gave $100,000 to the Democrats' election campaign.
Al Gore controls $500,000 worth of Oxy stock. If Occidental gets the oil,
Gore's stocks would be worth a lot more! (Time, Jan. 31, 2000, page 22, by
Adam Zagorin.)

The $1.3 billion aid package: The first $400 million of the bill went to
U.S. helicopter builders. The helicopter builders just happen to be looking
for customers. As a little extra bonus, the "Bell birds" had to be set up
with new engines that can fly in thinner air above 5,000 feet. They had to
be equipped with armor and spraying capabilities. The U.S. will cover the
cost to fly them -- Blackhawks, $1,500 per hour, Hueys, $500 per hour. The
U.S. will also pick up the maintenance costs too, that is required for
every 10 hours of flight time. (Time, March 6, 2000, page 55, by Mark Thompson)

Larry Seguin
Lisbon, N.Y.