COLOMBIA AT WAR

Guerrillas in Colombia have finally goaded President Andres Pastrana into
launching the all-out war they have waited so impatiently for. Mr. Pastrana
had been determined to negotiate a peace process with the Revolutionary
Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, the country's most powerful guerrilla group.

Despite its escalating provocations, Mr. Pastrana had thus far refused to
wage war. FARC, in turn, exploited his commitment to peace by weakening the
state through violence and becoming stronger financially - and thus
militarily - by deepening its involvement in the drug trade.

But FARC's belligerence has now become unequivocally clear to Mr. Pastrana.

Last month, the Colombian president threatened to reclaim a demilitarized
zone that the government had ceded to FARC in 1998 as a gesture of goodwill
for peace talks.

Although FARC had walked out of peace talks last year, in January, under
Mr. Pastrana's threat of military attack, it committed to a timetable for a
cease-fire and pledged to halt kidnapping and extortion operations. FARC
has repeatedly violated both the letter and spirit of that agreement by
launching murderous attacks on police stations, civilians and key
infrastructure. Last week, the group hijacked a commercial aircraft and
kidnapped a senior senator on board.

Within hours, Mr. Pastrana ordered the aerial bombing of FARC's
demilitarized zone. Later that same week, FARC kidnapped a pro-peace
presidential candidate, Ingrid Betancourt.

It isn't too difficult to understand why FARC broke with its past strategy
of launching more low-profile terrorist attacks and continuing to string
Mr. Pastrana along.

Clearly, FARC has decided that it would benefit from a war. It may also be
quite confident it can humiliate the military before the May elections,
undermining the widespread support for the leading presidential candidate,
Alvaro Uribe, who has vowed to fight guerrilla groups aggressively.

Considering the fact that Colombia is the oldest democracy in Latin
American, the Bush administration must take all of FARC's recent dastardly
deeds seriously and act accordingly - both for U.S. national security and
to help the Colombian government better protect its citizens. It could, for
instance, reform its aid to Colombia to form a comprehensive package
designed to help the state effectively bolster national security.

Washington could also urge Colombia to move toward judicial reform.

Furthermore, amid the global war on terrorism, the Bush and Pastrana
administrations must lean hard on European governments to effectively
recognize FARC as the terrorist group that it has consistently proven to
be. Europe's deference towards FARC has allowed the group to win key public
relations victories that help to strengthen it militarily. Since it has
become clear that FARC isn't willing to reach a negotiated settlement,
Europe must be careful not to give the terrorist organization any advantage
that might prolong a war and cost civilian lives.

If FARC is to finally get its war, the Colombian government must be given a
fighting chance.