ELITE GROUP OF TRAINED TROOPS TO LEAD DRIVE

Strategy Mirrors What Was Used In Vietnam

WASHINGTON - Following a strategy reminiscent of search-and-destroy
missions in Vietnam, U.S.-trained Colombian troops would sweep through
drug-producing regions in operations likely to displace an estimated
100,000 peasants.

Three elite 900-man air-mobile battalions would be the "cornerstone" of the
"push" into an area controlled by anti-government guerrillas profiting from
the drug trade, according to administration officials and White House
documents which were used to brief members of Congress on the Colombian
anti-drug aid package proposed.

Under the proposal - endorsed by Colombian officials - the estimated
100,000 displaced plantation workers would receive "emergency benefits" for
90 days and subsequent assistance in finding legal employment.

Administration officials say U.S. trainers and other military personnel
sent to Colombia to carry out the aid package won't take part in fighting.
Still, questions persist about whether the United States would be inserting
itself into Colombia's long-running civil war.

According to the documents, the Colombian battalions would eradicate coca
and poppy - not campaign against the guerrillas - but conflict with the
insurgents would seem inevitable if they chose to protect the
drug-producing crops that have benefited them financially.

The documents say the plan "bolsters the peace process by depriving illegal
armed groups of the drug-related cash flow without which they will be more
likely to resolve their issues peacefully."

According to the documents, the three battalions - one has been formed and
trained with earlier U.S. aid - would be ready to deploy in a year.

Yet, in testimony before Congress, administration officials acknowledged
that it would take about two years before new combat helicopters and their
crews would be ready for action. The aircraft would be used to transport
and support the troops.

The aid plan includes $38.6 million for a U.S. air base in Ecuador that
would provide planes easy access to Colombia, which is the third-largest
recipient of U.S. foreign aid behind Israel and Egypt. Officials said the
new base is needed because of the loss of U.S. military facilities in Panama.

Copley News Service correspondent Joe Cantlupe contributed to this report.