Author
amoshaun
Some of the riskiest jobs in a $1.3 billion U.S.-financed counterdrug
offensive have been contracted to companies including DynCorp, of Reston,
Va., whose employees last weekend flew into a firefight involving leftist
guerrillas to save the crew of a downed Colombian police helicopter.
The company provides rescuers, mechanics and helicopter and airplane
pilots for aerial eradication missions over cocaine and heroin-producing
plantations that are "taxed" and protected by the rebels.
Americans Work in Colombia War Zone
By Jared Kotler
Associated Press Writer
Sunday, Feb. 25, 2001; 5:56 p.m. EST
BOGOTA, Colombia –– Flying missions over guerrilla-infested coca fields
or manning remote radar stations in the jungle, private American citizens are
working perilously close to the front lines of the drug war in Colombia.
Referred to as "contractors" by the Washington agencies who hire them and
"mercenaries" by critics, they are supposed to number no more than 300 at
a time in the South American country.
Yet with the U.S. government "outsourcing" much of its drug war aid to
these contractors, officials are already indicating that the ceiling needs to be
raised.
As Colombian President Andres Pastrana travels to Washington to meet
with President Bush on Tuesday, worries are mounting about the danger the
U.S. contractors face – and whether their presence and that of U.S. troops
could lead to deeper involvement in Colombia's decades-old civil war.
"Once this juggernaut starts rolling it's extremely difficult to put a stopping
point on it," said Robert E. White, a former U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador
who heads the Center for International Policy, a Washington think tank.
"Once there are a few Americans killed, it seems to me that things begin to
unravel," he added. "And then you can find yourself, indeed, fully involved."
Some of the riskiest jobs in a $1.3 billion U.S.-financed counterdrug
offensive have been contracted to companies including DynCorp, of Reston,
Va., whose employees last weekend flew into a firefight involving leftist
guerrillas to save the crew of a downed Colombian police helicopter.
The company provides rescuers, mechanics and helicopter and airplane
pilots for aerial eradication missions over cocaine and heroin-producing
plantations that are "taxed" and protected by the rebels.
Because they are kept away from the media, it is difficult to know whether
DynCorp's employees live up to their image as a rowdy group of daredevils
and combat veterans. Janet Wineriter, a DynCorp spokeswoman, said that
under terms of the company's contract with the State Department, she
could not discuss DynCorp's operations in Colombia.
Some critics charge the contractors are being used in dicey areas to avoid
the scandal that would erupt if U.S. soldiers began returning from Colombia
in body bags.
Some worried about the growing U.S. role in Colombia have compared it to
Vietnam, where an initially small U.S. involvement ballooned. Eventually,
scenes of U.S. soldiers dying abroad helped turn public opinion against the
Vietnam war.
Using contractors will "reduce the potential fallout when mistakes happen or
Americans are caught in harm's way," said Tim Reiser, an aide to Sen.
Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), an opponent of U.S. military aid to Colombia.
While pointing out that no Americans have been killed by enemy fire on
spraying missions, a U.S. Embassy official admitted they regularly come
under attack.
"Sure the Americans get shot at," said the official, who spoke on condition
of anonymity. "We had 125 bullet impacts on aircraft last year, and I'm sure
there were Americans who were flying some of those aircraft."
In addition to the roughly 300 U.S. troops currently in Colombia, the
Pentagon employs some 70 Department of Defense contractors, according
to Steve Lucas, a spokesman for the U.S. Southern Command, which heads
military operations in Latin America.
They are among a larger group of contractors, whose precise number was
not available, but apparently is approaching 300.
The contractors include radar technicians and a private company operating
reconnaissance planes. Military Professional Resources Inc., of Alexandria,
Va., has about 15 of its staff providing general military expertise to
Colombia's defense ministry, Lucas said in a phone interview from the
Southern Command's Miami headquarters.
U.S. Ambassador Anne Patterson recently told visiting members of
Congress that the ceiling of 300 U.S. contractors established by Congress
last year – including those retained by the Pentagon, State Department, and
the U.S. Agency for International Development – may need to be raised
soon.
Colombia lacks qualified pilots to operate fumigation aircraft and helicopters
to be delivered, and additional contractors are needed to manage aid to
human rights groups, the justice system and for voluntary drug crop
eradication programs, embassy officials said.
Bush told a Washington press conference on Thursday that he would not
want U.S. troops to go beyond their current role of training Colombian
forces.
"I know we're training, and that's fine," Bush said. "But the mission ought to
be limited to just that. And so I share the concern of those who are worried
that at some point in time the United States might become militarily
engaged."
The current cap on the number of U.S. military personnel in Colombia is
500. Journalists are generally barred from interviewing or photographing the
American soldiers and contractors.
About a third of the U.S. troops here are Green Berets training Colombian
soldiers at Larandia army base, a sprawling cattle ranch located a two-hour
drive from the stronghold of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia,
or FARC, Colombia's biggest rebel group. They are authorized to carry
sidearms for self-defense, but are prohibited from joining operations.
"That's the rule. That's the law," Lucas said. "Ours is a supporting role
only."
© Copyright 2001 The Associated Press