The Bush administration plans to ask Congress next week to remove all restrictions on U.S. military aid to Colombia, including those that limit assistance to counter-narcotics efforts, impose human rights standards on the Colombian military and cap the number of U.S. military personnel in the country, administration and congressional sources said.
The plan, which also seeks to ward off restrictions on any future aid, is included in legislation that the administration expects to submit to Congress asking for additional funds for global and domestic anti-terrorism efforts this year.
The White House put aside a similar Colombia proposal barely two weeks ago on grounds that Congress might not support a significant broadening of the U.S. military mission there to assist the government of President Andres Pastrana in its fight against leftist guerrillas. The Pentagon, backed by some officials in other departments, had proposed including Colombia in the global war on terrorism.
So, under the guise of fighting terrorism, let’s re-instate the foreign policies of the Cold War. Remember them? We didn’t care how evil the dictator was, nor how bad he beat his own people, so long as he wasn’t Communist. Now, we’re going to let Colombia off the hook for human rights because they’re not terrorists? Geez.
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