ASK QUESTIONS ABOUT COLOMBIA

The Colombia Civil War has raged for 40 or more years. Civilian massacres
and other atrocities are being committed by all sides. There were 3,000 to
3,500 civilian deaths last year alone.

Colombia provides 90 percent of the cocaine used in the United States. The
United States is spending billions for the war on drugs in Colombia,
limited by Congress to eradication and control, and with human rights
protections and limits on military action. President Bush is now asking
Congress to remove these limitations in the interest of fighting the war on
terrorism. How we choose one side against the other on the basis of
terrorism is difficult to understand as the government, the paramilitary
militia and the rebels have all engaged in terror.

It can reasonably be argued that the motive for U.S. involvement is the
welfare of the L.A.-based Occidental Petroleum Co. Their second- largest
crude oil pipeline, the Cano Limon, was attacked 152 times in 2000 by the
rebels.

President Bush has also requested $98 million in the fiscal 2003 budget to
train a new Colombia battalion to help protect Occidental's facilities.

There has been precious little public and congressional consideration and
understanding of the Colombia issue so far. With the potential for direct
intervention in the civil war, and with the possible contradictory aims of
the administration, it should not be unpatriotic for us to take a little
time out and commit the issues to extensive public and congressional debate.

Walter Cook, Chico