Reply #3: Despite the worst human rights record in the hemisphere, Colombia

[Say_What]

is the world's third largest recipient of US military AID, after Egypt and Israel.

Meanwhile, congress okayed an increase of military and contractors (mercenaries) to Colombia and increased its already massive military aid.

<clips>
On October 8, 2004, a House-Senate Conference Committee issued its compromise version of the 2005 defense authorization bill. The final legislation grants the Bush administration's full request for a troop and contractor increase, as approved by the Senate. The "cap" is to be increased from 400 to 800 military personnel and from 400 to 600 civilian contractors.

When Congress approved the "Plan Colombia" aid package in 2000, it included a legal safeguard limiting the number of U.S. military personnel and U.S. citizen contractors who could be present in Colombia at any given time (Section 3204, title III, chapter 2 of Public Law 106-246, as amended). This “troop cap” currently limits the U.S. counter-drug presence in Colombia to 400 military personnel and 400 U.S. citizens working for private contractors.

The “cap” was put in place because many concerned members of Congress – among them Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV) and Reps. Gene Taylor (D-MS) and Ike Skelton (D-MO) – saw a lot of “growth potential” for the U.S. military commitment in Colombia.

Until early 2004, officials from the State and Defense Departments gave regular assurances that they saw no need to increase the caps. This changed with the onset of "Plan Patriota," a large-scale, ongoing Colombian military offensive in longtime guerrilla strongholds that began in late 2003. "Plan Patriota" depends on logistical assistance, intelligence and advice from U.S. personnel present in Colombia.

http://www.ciponline.org/colombia/04cap.htm

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and the ever increasing military AID to a country whose human rights abuses we never hear about in the USSA. This year the Bushistas want a whopping $597.72 million. Your tax dollars at work. Plan Colombia--Plan of Death!

<clips>

...On February 6, 2004, the Bush administration submitted to Congress its foreign aid budget request for 2005. It called for an amount of aid to Colombia slightly higher than 2004 levels: about $597.72 million, compared to about $574.8 million in 2004. Of that amount, $447 million would go to Colombia's military and police, with the remaining $150 million going to economic and social assistance programs.

Foreign operations accounts for most - but not all - of the aid that Colombia gets. The Defense budget appropriation provides additional counter-drug aid military and police aid, but the Defense Department is not required to estimate how much aid each country is to receive. In 2003, however, Colombia's military and police received an estimated $149 million in additional military and police aid through the U.S. defense budget. If Colombia receives a similar amount in 2005 - and it is likely to get more - it will get $570.92 million in military-police aid next year (79.2%), compared to $150 million in economic-social aid.


http://www.ciponline.org/colombia/05forops.htm