WOLFOWITZ ISSUES NEW GUIDELINES FOR COUNTERNARCOTICS ACTIVITIES

Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz earlier this month issued new
guidelines for the Defense Department's international counternarcotics (CN)
activities and its support to the U.S. law enforcement community in the
drug war.

Prosecuting the drug war, with Pentagon help, is an integral part of the
worldwide war on terrorism, according to an Oct. 3 memo from Wolfowitz.

"International narcotics trafficking, and its linkage with international
terrorism, is a threat to the national security interests of the United
States," the document states. "Global and regional terrorists who threaten
[U.S.] interests finance their activities with the proceeds from narcotics
trafficking."

DOD can play a key role in disrupting this funding mechanism, the deputy
defense secretary states. The department's resources and operations "can
detect, monitor and support the interdiction, disruption or curtailment of
emerging narcotics-related threats to our national security," he said. "CN
authorities and funding are an effective combination that [support the] war
on terrorism . . . and the implementation of the department's Security
Cooperation Guidance."

Two groups mentioned by name as potential U.S. targets are al Qaeda and the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known by its Spanish acronym FARC,
which funds its activities with drug profits.

The new guidelines outlined in the memo replace those outlined in the Oct.
6, 1998, DOD policy memo called "Military Support to Counternarcotics
Activities."

Wolfowitz's guidelines prohibit DOD personnel from participating in "law
enforcement activities" -- searches, seizures, arrests, etc. -- unless
authorized to do so by law.

Further, "department personnel will not accompany U.S. drug law enforcement
agents or host nation law enforcement and security forces on actual [CN]
field operations or participate in any activity in which related
hostilities are imminent," the memo states. "Department personnel shall
make every effort to minimize the possibility of confrontation with civilians."

The deputy secretary says service members working CN support missions
should operate "from a secure base or area."

Wolfowitz's memo also includes criteria for approving requests for DOD
assistance to other nations' law enforcement agencies and security forces
involved in the drug war. The Pentagon's resources can be used to detect or
interdict the transport of illegal drugs or curtail the financing,
cultivation and other means of supporting the underground trade.

Only federal officials given responsibility for CN activities can appeal to
the Pentagon for assistance, according to the memo, and that assistance
must be authorized by federal law. The request must be consistent with
other guidance for conducting the war on terrorism and the National Drug
Control Strategy, and the support provided must enhance "unit readiness or
mission capability."

International deployments under the new policy must include training for
foreign partners and contribute "to the operational preparation of the
battlespace or advance-force operations," the document states.

Wolfowitz says intelligence activities may provide "imagery/mapping or
training in intelligence skills and operations" to support CN efforts.

His memo lays out proper procedure for requesting international CN support:
Federal agencies, for instance, are to send requests to the "relevant"
combatant commander or to the office of the deputy assistant secretary of
defense for counternarcotics for processing.

Each request will be processed in compliance with Chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff Instruction 3710.01. The secretary or deputy defense
secretary need to approve requests for foreign deployments, according to
Wolfowitz's guidelines. The under secretary of defense for policy will
approve all requests for international CN support that do not involve
deployments.

But before a request reaches the top two officials in DOD or the under
secretary, the Joint Staff could weigh in with a recommendation that gets
sent to the Office of Counternarcotics. This office would then be
responsible for coordination with the DOD general counsel and the State
Department before sending the request up the chain of command in the Pentagon.

Combatant commanders will be responsible for forwarding requests for
deployment orders to the Joint Staff, Wolfowitz's memo states. These orders
could include the number of service members needed and proposed dates for
deployment, source of funding, command relationships and a review of risk
to DOD personnel. RDO's also should state whether service members will be
armed -- along with the kind of armament -- planned rules of engagement, a
look at the legal status of personnel working in a foreign nation and a
statement "regarding human rights verification" by those individuals and
groups who receive DOD training.