HOW MANY FRONTS?

In its pursuit of the global war on terrorism, the Bush administration has
since Sept. 11 committed the United States to put forces in Colombia, the
Philippines, Yemen, and Georgia, in addition to the major deployment in
Afghanistan.

The number of people involved is not great - just over 1,200 so far - but
the engagement is broad, with perhaps Algeria and Indonesia still to come.

The logic of the various sorties varies. In some cases, the
administration's commitment puts the United States into a war that has been
going on for some time against the government in power, because the enemy
of that government is considered to be a terrorist group. The government
under attack thus becomes an ally in the war against terrorism and, as
such, deserving of U.S. military support.

This is the case in Colombia, where the United States has 250 troops on the
ground in support of Plan Colombia, a $1.3 billion military aid program
billed as an anti-narcotics effort. The enemy in Colombia is the Armed
Revolutionary Forces of Colombia, a group of leftist agrarian reformers who
finance themselves through drugs and who seek the overthrow of President
Andres Pastrana's government. The war has continued for 38 years.

Mr. Pastrana broke off a three-year-old peace process Feb. 20 to seek again
to defeat the FARC militarily, with U.S. support. It is also the case in
the Philippines, where Abu Sayyaf, a group of Islamic rebels - truly bad
news although not associated with al-Qaeda - have been seeking to stake out
a piece of the Philippines for themselves for 12 years now. The United
States now has 660 Special Forces and other troops supporting government
forces there.

In Georgia, a country in the oil-rich Caucasus region, the United States is
providing combat helicopters and other military equipment and training,
valued at $50 million, to the government of President Eduard Shevardnadze.

Some 200 U.S. troops will support Georgia government forces, beleaguered
since 1992 by rebels from Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which seek to break
away from Georgia. Mr. Shevardnadze, 75, was foreign minister of the
government of former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, close to
Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush in the 1980s.

In Yemen some 100 U.S. Special Forces and intelligence officers will aid
Yemeni authorities in seeking to apprehend al-Qaeda elements and others who
may have been involved in the October, 2000, attack on the USS Cole.

Algeria has asked for military assistance to support its government in its
10-year struggle against Islamic extremists. So far, 65,000 have been
killed in that conflict. The Algerian government is also facing resistance
from Berbers seeking greater political rights. Indonesia is reportedly
seeking military assistance as well because it faces threats from Muslim
extremists and separatists.

Some or all of these endeavors may be found to be worthy, but not until
they have been examined closely by the Congress, coldly and objectively,
with discussion free of any charges of disloyalty against querying members.

Not only American money but American lives are at stake.