COLOMBIA MISSION POSES DANGERS FOR U.S.

BOGOTA, Colombia -- The commander of U.S. military forces in Latin America
visited hundreds of wounded Colombian soldiers Friday -- a stark reminder of
the risks U.S. Special Forces could face in two months when they begin
training Colombian troops in Arauca state, one of the South American
nation's bloodiest war zones.

"You stand for good, and I am honored to be in your presence," Army Gen.
James Hill told the troops at a rehabilitation center for severely wounded
soldiers. "My greatest single privilege was leading American soldiers just
like you in combat in Vietnam.

"There are things worth dying for. There are things worth bleeding for.
There are few people in the world who share that. We are brothers in blood."

In January, U.S. Special Forces will begin training two Colombian army
brigades. The Colombians will be assigned to protect a pipeline that carries
oil for Los Angeles-based Occidental Petroleum across northern Colombia to a
seaside oil depot.

Hill, commander of the U.S. Southern Command, told reporters that under
common rules of engagement, U.S. troops would be able to fight back if fired
upon. "If attacked, they will defend themselves," he said.

The United States had previously restricted military aid to mostly
counterdrug operations.

Colombia's war, now in its 38th year, is being waged by two leftist rebel
armies against the military and police and a few outlawed right-wing
paramilitary groups.

PRISONERS MAY GET OUT:

In Bogota, Judge Pedro Jose Suarez ordered the release on Friday of Miguel
and Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela -- the former bosses of the Cali cartel who
in the 1990s controlled up to 80 percent of the world's cocaine.

"The Rodriguez Orejuela have served three-fifths of their sentence and have
led a correct social behavior in prison," Suarez said.

The brothers were arrested in 1995 during a nationwide manhunt by Colombian
police backed by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. A higher judge or the
nation's attorney general could block their release.

The brothers took control of Colombia's cocaine trade after the 1993 killing
of former drug lord Pablo Escobar, who led the rival Medellin drug cartel.