U.S. WILL TRAIN COLOMBIANS TO FIGHT REBELS

Miami --- American troops will train Colombian soldiers and police to help
them take control of a region of the country crawling with rebels and
paramilitaries, a senior U.S. military officer said.

The training by U.S. Special Forces is part of a larger American effort to
help Colombia battle insurgents who have waged war in the South American
country for 38 years.

In the past, U.S. military aid focused on stemming the flow of cocaine and
heroin from Colombia and depriving rebels and their paramilitary foes of
drug profits. But the United States now plans to directly help Colombia
attack the outlawed groups.

"Our approach to Colombia recognizes that the problem in Colombia is much
more than drugs," Army Gen. Galen Jackman said. "The problem there is
basically a crisis of governance, where the Colombians are not able to
provide a safe and secure environment."

Jackman laid out details of the new U.S. plan Friday in a rare encounter
with journalists at the headquarters of the U.S. Southern Command. Congress
is preparing to provide about $95 million more to train and equip two
Colombian army brigades.

As part of the move, U.S. officials are scrapping a presidential directive,
imposed by President Clinton, that permits the United States to share
intelligence with Colombia only when it deals with drug trafficking,
Jackman said.

Under Presidential Directive 73, if U.S. officials trace a satellite phone
call by a rebel leader planning an attack, they would be unable to share
the information with the Colombian army to help capture him, though the
rebels are deeply involved in cocaine trafficking. The Americans could
share the phone trace with the Colombians only if it relates to drugs.

That stipulation is expected to be dropped in a new version being written
by the Bush administration.

"We need to treat [the rebels and paramilitaries] as they are, which are
terrorist organizations . . . and we need to help the Colombians deal with
those organizations," said Jackman, the director of operations for the
Southern Command.

Starting in October, Special Forces troops are expected to begin training
the Colombian army's 18th and 5th brigades in specialized warfare to
protect a pipeline that carries oil owned by Los Angeles-based Occidental
Petroleum and hunt down rebels who have attacked it, Jackman said.

They will also get U.S. combat helicopters.

"I think these brigades that we're talking about will be very offensively
oriented --- that is focused on the enemy as opposed to static defense
around the pipeline," Jackman said.

U.S. troops will also train Colombian national police, Jackman said.

"The idea there is to help secure the pipeline . . . secure the region and
get some of the social and economic programs going," Jackman said.

Jackman stressed that there are no plans to involve U.S. forces in combat
in Colombia, nor to raise the troop cap from the current level of 400.

"I think this is a lesson that we learned out of Vietnam. This is the
Colombian's war to win," Jackman said. "They have to step up to fight."