U.S. TO EXPAND ROLE IN COLOMBIA

MIAMI - American troops will train Colombian soldiers and police to help
them take control of a region of the country crawling with rebels and
paramilitaries, a senior U.S. military officer said.

The training by U.S. special forces is part of a larger American effort to
help Colombia battle insurgents who have waged war in the South American
country for 38 years.

U.S. military aid has focused on stemming the flow of cocaine and heroin
from Colombia and depriving rebels and their paramilitary foes of drug
profits. But the United States now plans to directly help Colombia attack
the outlawed groups.

"Our approach to Colombia recognizes that the problem in Colombia is much
more than drugs," Army Brig. Gen. Galen Jackman said. "The problem there is
basically a crisis of governance, where the Colombians are not able to
provide a safe and secure environment."

Jackman laid out details of the new U.S. plan in a rare encounter with
journalists at the headquarters of the U.S. Southern Command on Friday.
Congress is preparing to provide about $95 million more to train and equip
two Colombian army brigades.

As part of the move, U.S. officials are scrapping a presidential directive,
imposed by former President Clinton, that permits the United States to
share intelligence with Colombia only when it deals with drug trafficking,
Jackman said.

Under Presidential Directive 73, if U.S. officials traced a satellite phone
call by a rebel leader planning an attack, they couldn't share the
information with the Colombian army to help capture him, even though the
rebels are deeply involved in cocaine trafficking. The Americans could
share the phone trace with the Colombians only if it relates to drugs.

That stipulation is expected to be dropped in a new version being written
by the Bush administration.

"We need to treat (the rebels and paramilitaries) as they are, which are
terrorist organizations ... and we need to help the Colombians deal with
those organizations," said Jackman, the Director of Operations for the U.S.
Southern Command.

Starting in October, U.S. special forces are expected to begin training the
Colombian Army's 18th and 5th Brigades in specialized warfare to protect a
pipeline that carries oil owned by Los Angeles-based Occidental Petroleum
and hunt down rebels who have attacked it, Jackman said. They will also get
U.S. combat helicopters.

"I think these brigades that we're talking about will be very offensively
oriented - that is focused on the enemy as opposed to static defense around
the pipeline," Jackman said.

U.S. troops also will train Colombian National Police, Jackman said.

The U.S. military trainers will operate in an area where rebels have
attacked the Colombian army and police repeatedly. Jackman said the safety
of the U.S. troops is "a concern" but that the Americans will be well
protected.

Jackman stressed that there are no plans to involve U.S. forces in combat
in Colombia, nor to raise the troop cap from the current level of 400.

"I think this is a lesson that we learned out of Vietnam. This is the
Colombians' war to win," Jackman said.