COLOMBIA: PRELUDE TO ANOTHER VIETNAM?

More U.S. Aid, More American Presence In War Against Cocaine

FLORENCIA, Colombia -- The hotshot pilot swoops down at 200 m.p.h. in his
Vietnam-era crop duster, gliding just 50 feet over the coca valleys he has
been hired to destroy.

The U.S. Army veteran earns $90,000 a year tax-free as a civilian pilot, but
he understands the downside of the job very well. More than once has he
dodged bullets from peasants and guerrillas trying to protect Colombia's
multibillion-dollar cocaine trade.

"If we start getting into a civil war, I'm out of here," he said.

For now, though, he is part of a growing civilian army hired by the United
States to help fight Colombia's war on drugs, to be financed largely by $1.3
billion in U.S. aid. Daredevil pilots with military experience, retired
brass and former Green Berets are all part of the effort as the first $300
million in aid flows to Colombia this month.

Expertise in intelligence and law enforcement is a must. Fluency in Spanish
and knowledge of counterterrorism, jungle warfare and countersurveillance
help.

Though there are limits to the number of U.S. military people who will be
involved in training Colombian troops, there are fewer restrictions on how
many U.S. civilians can be hired by military contractors.

And with as much as $4 billion in U.S. aid expected to flow into the Andean
region in the coming years, at least a dozen U.S. companies are lining up to
bid on Uncle Sam's foreign venture.

Pay is high, but so are the risks.

The crash of a U.S. Army spy plane that killed five U.S. soldiers last
summer underscored the potential for casualties. Relatives dispute the
official Army version of pilot error and suggest a rebel missile could have
shot down the reconnaissance plane.

Three civilian pilots of DynCorp. and Eagle Aviation and Services Technology
Inc., also known as EAST Inc., under contract with the State Department,
have died in plane crashes since 1997.

DynCorp. of Reston, Va., has up to 30 pilots and crews in charge of
fumigating coca fields with glyphosate, the active ingredient in the
household Roundup weed killer. Their presence has grown from a few pilots
several years ago to more than 60 workers at the Larandia military base near
Florencia.

It is difficult to predict how many Americans will become a part of the
Colombian conflict. Up to 100 Special Forces and Navy SEALs already are
teaching Colombia's new military-led counter-narcotics battalions. U.S.
workers operate ground-radar stations and civilian coca-spraying crews
provide aircraft maintenance at Colombian bases.

On any given day, from 150 to 250 Americans are helping in Colombia's drug
war. That will grow to 500 U.S. troops and 300 civilians under new caps that
can be increased by the U.S. president.

U.S. officials say the American military will not be directly involved in
operations and that U.S. soldiers will act solely as trainers. And much of
the contract work for nonmilitary help will be given to U.S. companies that
will then parcel the work to Colombian subcontractors.

Of the $120 million in U.S. non-military contracts over the next three
years, more than two-thirds will go to U.S. companies or charity groups. The
Americans will supervise projects to overhaul Colombia's justice system,
teach farmers to grow crops other than coca and opium poppy, and relocate
and shelter Colombians fleeing civil war.

Aircraft Makers Cash In

U.S. firms already are cashing in on the spoils of war.

Bell-Textron and United Technologies' Sikorsky Aircraft have signed to
deliver 18 new Blackhawks and 42 "Super" Huey II helicopters.

Orders are pending for at least 14 more by the Colombian Defense Ministry,
making the windfall for the helicopter makers more than $600 million.

Military Personnel Resources Inc., or MPRI, a military-consultant company
based in Virginia and run by retired U.S. generals, already is advising the
Colombian armed forces. Other U.S firms have started peddling
nighttime-surveillance gear, riverboat technology, aircraft-maintenance
services and other wares.

U.S. companies are leading the rush, but companies from other countries also
hope to benefit. Israeli Defense Industries is trying to sell observation
technology to the Colombian Air Force to outfit its Vietnam-era "Bronco"
planes, the same ones leased by the United States in fumigation raids.

But it is the growing U.S. presence that has critics from Bogota to
Washington calling the U.S. aid package a prelude to another Vietnam
debacle, with U.S. forces being lured into combat. Already, some of the
people working for U.S. contractors are near the front lines.

U.S. Brass Cashes In, Too

MPRI, for example, has a former brigadier general, six retired colonels and
several former officers in Colombia to help reorganize the Colombian armed
forces under an 18-month Department of Defense contract worth $800,000.

Founded by former U.S. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Carl Vuono in 1987, MPRI has
about $60 million in contracts worldwide with more than 400 employees who
sell their expertise while "capitalizing on the experience and skills of
America's best-seasoned professionals," according to a company handout.

Vuono brings a wealth of experience to the job, having led the U.S. Army's
Panama and Persian Gulf War operations.

DynCorp. has several dozen pilots and ground-support workers operating under
guard at Colombian military bases, according to one of the company pilots.
They fly missions to eradicate coca fields with Colombian police and
military helicopters alongside to provide cover.

DynCorp., a Fortune 500 company, is one of the largest military contractors
in the United States, with strong ties to the CIA and other federal
agencies. It has projected 2001 sales of $2.5 billion between military work
and commercial ventures.

The practice of using contractors and hired guns to carry out U.S. foreign
policy is not new.

DynCorp., MPRI and other contractors have provided services in hot spots
ranging from Bosnia to the Persian Gulf. Their contracts are under the
supervision of the Defense and State departments.

Military experts say this outsourcing is not only cost-efficient, it also
helps shield U.S. lawmakers from criticism if something goes wrong and
Americans end up killed and injured.

"The military tends to view the civilian contractors as a lot less
confrontational way of doing business," said Chris Hellman, a senior analyst
at the Center for Defense Information in Washington. "It's perceived as a
more benign presence."

In, But Not In?

Contractors say their aim is not to fight another country's battles.

"What we do is set them up so that what they do, they do it efficiently,"
said retired Army Gen. Ed Soyster, an MPRI spokesman and former head of the
U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency.

But critics charge that there isn't a lot of oversight in the bidding for
the profitable overseas projects.

MPRI makes its work quite public.

It has a 10,000-name database and recruits at U.S military bases. Several
months ago, it advertised for "highly qualified and experienced American
military officers and senior noncommissioned officers" for its Colombia-U.S.
"working group."

Less forthcoming about their activities are DynCorp. and EAST Inc. EAST Inc.
is incorporated in several states but will not discuss its role in Colombia.
DynCorp. also would not comment.

Mostly, U.S. pilots fly fumigation missions in daylight and darkness. They
work in three-week shifts and then often shuttle back to the United States
for a week off.

Colombian choppers fly cover for the U.S. pilots. But one pilot predicts the
Colombian pilots aren't prepared for battle.

"They want us to fight their war for them."

Sidebar

THE REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA

Population: 39 million.

Area: 439,700 square miles, about four times the size of Nevada.

Principal language: Spanish

Conflict: Drug production in Colombia has skyrocketed in five years, and the
country supplies an estimated 90 percent of the cocaine sold in the United
States.

During the last decade, about 35,000 people have died in violence blamed on
the drug trade, leftist guerrillas and right-wing paramilitary groups. Early
this week, for instance, right-wing paramilitary gunmen killed nine peasants
near a southwest town. Elsewhere, leftist guerrillas killed a wounded
right-winger who was in a Red Cross ambulance. The International Committee
of the Red Cross then halted medical evacuations in Colombia.

The $1.3-billion U.S. aid package approved this summer will make Colombia
one of the largest recipients of U.S. foreign aid. Most of the money will go
for 60 new U.S.-made helicopters and military training.

Data from: Free Press news services, World Almanac