HOUSE PANEL MOVES TO LIMIT U.S. TROOPS IN COLOMBIA

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. House of Representatives panel moved on
Wednesday to limit the number of U.S. troops sent to Colombia to help the
government battle illegal drug trafficking.

The House Armed Services Committee endorsed a limit of 500 on the number of
U.S. military personnel in Colombia at any one time as part of the Clinton
administration's effort to help train and equip Colombia's military to
fight the illegal drug trade and leftist guerrillas.

The plan has been roundly criticized by lawmakers in both parties, who
question whether the United States is being pulled deeper into a
Vietnam-like military quagmire with no purpose and no end.

Rep. Gene Taylor, a Mississippi Democrat who sponsored the amendment, said
lawmakers had become increasingly frustrated with the growing number of
open-ended U.S. military deployments around the world.

Colombia, he said, was likely to be the next hot spot.

``I don't think the decision should rest with the president alone,'' Taylor
said. ``Should any president decide to go over that number of troops, it
will only be with a vote of Congress. I don't want to see us stumble into a
war in Colombia.''

The amendment, which passed on a voice vote, was offered to the panel's
$310 billion fiscal 2001 defense authorization spending bill.

A similar amendment limiting U.S. troops in Colombia to 250 was approved by
a Senate panel Tuesday, which backed spending about $1 billion for the
Colombia plan -- less than the $1.6 billion sought by the White House.

The full House in March approved a limit of 300 troops as part of its
supplemental spending bill that authorized $1.7 billion for the Colombia
plan.

Taylor's amendment would prohibit the use of funds to support and maintain
more than 500 military personnel in Colombia unless more are needed for
rescue or relief missions. It excludes military forces assigned to the
embassy or security contingents.

Taylor said there were now 200 to 250 military personnel in Colombia at any
time, with the numbers spiking to 364 at most. The limit of 500 would allow
for regular rotations and overlaps between shifts, he said.

He said Colombia's government had made its own citizens with high school
diplomas ineligible for the draft. ``I'm left with the very real impression
that they expect us to fight the war for them,'' he said.

Rep. Ike Skelton of Missouri, ranking Democrat on the panel, said the
administration had a ``flawed strategy'' for Colombia. ``It has an
excellent chance of involving us in a civil war,'' he said.

Rep. Duncan Hunter of California questioned whether the amendment would
allow President Clinton and future presidents enough flexibility to deal
with crises as they arise.

``I think the commander-in-chief needs to have the flexibility to deploy
American troops when and where he thinks advisable,'' Hunter said.

The bill will be considered by the full House later this month, and must
then be melded with the Senate version in a House-Senate negotiating
conference.