U.S. OFFICIALS WEIGH COLOMBIA'S AID NEEDS

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration is conducting an "agonizing"
review of its policy toward Colombia, weighing options to bolster a
democracy battered by drug cartels and guerrillas.

That review includes a look at ways to enhance U.S. help to Colombia
in its war against Marxist rebel forces.

At present, U.S. policy is directed toward fighting drug traffickers
in the nation but not the leftist guerrillas, who control a
significant portion of the country. The review is exploring whether
the White House should acknowledge that the rebels and drug
traffickers are inextricably linked.

"It's some agonizing decisions there," Peter Rodman, assistant
secretary of defense for international security affairs, said this
week. "And I think there is a consensus that there is an important
American interest, but there is not necessarily a consensus about
what the right way to serve that interest is."

Next week, a delegation of U.S. officials representing the National
Security Council, the State Department, Justice Department and other
agencies is going to Colombia to meet with President Andres Pastrana.

Keeping the democratic government in Colombia sovereign in a country
wracked by civil war and ravaged by drug cartels has become one of
the administration's top foreign policy priorities, along with the
Middle East and Iraq, high-ranking officials said.

Balancing the desire to help Colombia is the fear of getting involved
in a conflict with guerrilla groups that makes any policy shift in
the region difficult.

So far, that balancing act has been maintained by agreeing to help
Colombia fight the cartels, but not the guerrillas with whom the
cartels are aligned.

But, a congressional aide said, "In reality, it is already a
distinction without a difference. Things have gotten so blurred in
Colombia between the drug cartels and the guerrillas that the whole
thing is just one giant security problem three hours from Miami."

Among questions considered, Rodman said, is, "Should our policy,
which obviously includes a military component, have a rationale
beyond just narcotics?"

Any U.S. policy shift with Colombia would be a long-term process that
could not occur without first being requested by Colombia and backed
by bipartisan support in the U.S. Congress.

So far, Pastrana has asked for American help in fighting drug
cartels, but has avoided complicating his war with insurgents by
seeking outside involvement.

A Bush foreign policy official said, "As of now, our Colombia policy
remains as it has been, the three-D policy of fighting drugs, aiding
economic development and upholding democracy."

There are no immediate plans to make a "drastic" shift in that
policy, the official said.

But "it is difficult to draw a clear line. The drug cartels are
supporting the rebels by giving them money for arms in return for
protection. So our policy has been that by helping to fight the drug
cartels you are helping support the effort to restore rule of law to
Colombia," said the official.

The Colombian government is involved in a more than a 40- year-old
struggle with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC,
and other insurgent groups. The war is complicated by the involvement
of well-armed right-wing paramilitary groups that have attacked towns
and outposts in guerilla territory.

During their meetings next week, the U.S. officials will inform
Pastrana that the Bush administration has deep concerns about his
policy of giving leftist guerrillas control over a huge zone in
Colombia.

Pastrana gave the Switzerland-sized chunk of Colombia to the FARC as
a demilitarized zone in 1998. In October, Pastrana must announce
whether that territory will continue in that capacity.

Recent reports of terrorists, including Irish Republican Army
bombers, training in the FARC zone have troubled Bush foreign policy
aides.

Three alleged IRA terrorists, Niall Connolly, Martin McCauley and
James Monaghan, were charged this week by the Colombian government
with training FARC guerrillas.

"No one should be in any doubt that the United States would be
greatly concerned about any assistance, information sharing, training
or collaboration with the FARC," said U.S. State Department spokesman
Philip Reeker.

The Bush administration has so far backed a plan passed by Congress
and signed by former President Clinton called Plan Colombia. It has
provided $1.3 billion to Colombia to train troops and provide them
with helicopters and other weapons to attack cocaine and heroin
growers and processors in southern regions.

Colombia has received about $1 billion so far, officials said,
including helicopters and U.S. training of several battalions of
troops.

"To go from counter-narcotics to counter-insurgency will be a tough
sell up here," conceded a senior Republican staff member involved in
international issues. "The fear, of course, is that Colombia will be
another place where we are going to get mired down in a war."

Many congressional leaders are on record opposing any expansion of
U.S. involvement in Colombia. The precise way in which U.S. aid to
Colombia can be used has been the subject of heated debate on Capitol
Hill.