MCCONNELL QUESTIONS AID PLAN TO FIGHT DRUGS IN COLOMBIA

WASHINGTON U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., expressed concern at a hearing
yesterday about a proposed plan by the Clinton administration to spend about
$1.6 billion in supplemental aid on drug-fighting efforts in Colombia.

"The more the administration spends in Colombia, the more coca is grown,"
said McConnell, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on
Foreign Operations.

Cocaine and heroin production have soared in Colombia as leftist rebels and
right-wing paramilitary groups protect the trade.

"This problem directly affects the United States as drug trafficking and
abuse cause enormous social, health and financial damage in our
communities," Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Thomas R.
Pickering testified.

But the proposed two-year aid package, of which a small portion would be
spent in neighboring countries, may not be the best solution, McConnell
said. He and other lawmakers said an aid package must have a regional
approach and must use new strategies to combat the groups that are
protecting the trade.

More than half of the funds in President Clinton's package would finance a
Colombian military push into southern regions where drug crops are expanding
most rapidly under guerrilla protection. U.S. military personnel would train
the counter-narcotics battalions, which has prompted some concerns on
Capitol Hill.

"Who goes in if this thing blows up?" Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, asked Gen.
Charles Wilhelm, commander of the U.S. Southern Command. "Tell me this is
not a Vietnam again."

Wilhelm, who said he served in Vietnam, said it was not the same. "I think
I'll know it when I see it again," he said.

The Colombian military has strong links to paramilitary organizations, which
routinely commit human rights violations, Robin Kirk, a researcher for Human
Rights Watch testified. The U.S.-based organization released a report
Wednesday documenting some of those links.

"We want there to be strict human rights conditions attached to any
legislation," Kirk said.

McConnell said he was considering making aid conditional on efforts by the
Colombian government to make it easier to try military personnel in civilian
courts.

Pickering said he opposed such an effort. "It's unnecessary to condition the
legislation," he said, adding that Colombian President Andres Pastrana is
taking steps to weaken the paramilitary groups.

While Pastrana may be showing good will, that is not enough, Kirk said.

"We've heard these promises before," she said. "Results on the ground are
key."