April 19, 2004

•  

  
  

   Bush Wants More US Troops, Civilian Contractors in Colombia 3/26/04

  
  

  Gen. James Hill told the House Armed Services Committee that the administration is asking Congress to raise the cap on the number of US military personnel and civilian contractors.
  

  In an effort to forestall a gradual build-up of US forces in Colombia, Congress mandated limits on the number of personnel who could be deployed there at any one time. That limit is currently set at 400 military personnel and 400 civilian employees. The administration wants to double the cap on military personnel to 800 soldiers and increase the number of civilian contractors by 50% to 600.
  

  US military personnel train and advise one of the sides in Colombia’s four-decade-old civil war, the Colombian Armed Forces. The US State Department and other government agencies employ civilian contractors for a number of tasks related to counterinsurgency efforts, most prominently as pilots and crews for the aerial eradication campaign against coca crops.
  

  Increasing the personnel caps is critical to the success of Plan Colombia, said Gen. Hill. The White House is seeking more than $700 million this year for its Andean Regional Initiative, the bulk of it destined for Plan Colombia.

  
  

   

  • 10:49 pm
  • 1 Comment