CHANGING POLICY ON COLOMBIA

Restrictions placed on Black Hawk helicopters and other U.S. military
equipment supplied to Colombia to eradicate narcotics were based on two
principal factors. The guerrillas were negotiating with the government and
President Andres Pastrana argued that they were not involved in the drug trade.

Now, peace negotiations have broken down completely and President Andres
Pastrana has put an end to the vast safe haven he granted the Revolutionary
Armed Forces of Colombia, known as the FARC. These factors and his tardy
acknowledgement that the guerrillas have been working hand in glove with
the narcotics cartels, using drug revenue to beef up their military
strength, have completely changed the situation. President Bush now has
every reason to ask Congress to lift limitations on the use of American
military equipment and advisers.

Moreover, the FARC has continued to act with such appalling ruthlessness
that it is impossible to gloss over its use of terror against unarmed
civilians. Although the FARC, a second left-wing guerrilla army and a
right-wing organization have all been placed on the State Department's
terrorist blacklist, it has not been U.S. policy to give this fact marked
emphasis.

Recently, the bodies of three people - a woman senator, a friend whose
husband is being held hostage by the guerrillas and their driver - were
found in a ditch just outside the capital. They were on a mercy mission to
secure the release of hundreds of hostages held by the guerrillas, but the
guerrillas showed them no mercy, shooting each individual in the head. Such
willful murders are characteristic of FARC terror.

President Pastrana responded to a spate of terrorist attacks with an
appearance on nationwide television to explain: "It's impossible to have a
soldier guarding every energy tower, every stretch of pipeline, every
aqueduct and every public building." He also announced that he has asked
the United States to free up the use of helicopters and military equipment,
recognizing that the campaign against narcotics cannot be separated from
the war against the FARC, which used the safe haven to increase the
production of poppies for heroin and coca for cocaine.

It is an indication of the weakness of the Colombian armed forces that it
took government troops nine days to reoccupy a strategic township in the
former safe haven. Simultaneously, a general resigned his post because he
said he was unable to prevent sabotage. The Associated Press reported that
12th Brigade commander Gen. Gustavo Porras explained: "The army is good at
fighting guerrillas, but we don't have the resources to fight against
terrorism."

Congress appears sympathetic to Colombia's plight. Sen. Patrick J. Leahy,
D-Vt., who has been a fierce critic of the Colombian military for abuse of
human rights, now believes that Congress should consider widening the
narcotics focus of U.S. military aid by training combat forces to fight the
guerrillas. Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., the chairman of the intelligence
committee, says that the guerrillas pose a threat to regional security that
should be met with direct U.S. support to the Colombian military.

The changed circumstances call for a review of U.S. policy to Colombia.
However, President Bush is wise to heed the reported advice of Secretary of
State Colin Powell and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice to
approach any widening of U.S. involvement in Colombia with caution,
particularly in view of the imminence of presidential elections, which are
set for May 26.