Subject: Re: [drugwar] News from Colombia Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 11:31:06 -0400 To: lpny_discussion From: Bob Armstrong The war which continues to grow and will be with us when Iraq= is a pleasant little socialist republic : Colombia Week (www.colombiaweek.org) Number 56: June 28, 2004 : >=A0SENATE READY TO PASS BUSH TROOP REQUEST: In a 58-40 vote June= 23, the U.S. >=A0Senate shot down a proposal to trim a Bush administration= request for >=A0additional U.S. personnel in Colombia. Sen. Robert Byrd (D-West= Virginia) >=A0offered the proposal, capping military advisors at 500 and= contractors at >=A0400, as an amendment to the 2005 defense authorization bill.= This week the >=A0Senate is expected to pass the bill, including the Bush= request, which would >=A0increase the limits to 800 and 600 respectively. Since 2000,= the caps have >=A0been 400 each. The House of Representatives version of the bill= passed May >=A020 and includes the same caps Byrd proposed. A conference= committee will >=A0reconcile differences between the two bills. The Bush= administration says >=A0the additions are vital for President Alvaro Uribe V=E9lez's= counterinsurgency >=A0programs, including a three-year southern offensive dubbed the= "Patriot >=A0Plan" that Washington helped design. Gen. James T. Hill, chief= of the U.S. >=A0Southern Command, told reporters June 23 that Colombia's armed= forces "are >=A0doing very well and better than I thought they would be doing= at this >=A0point," but that he'd like to provide greater assistance with a= troop >=A0increase. Hill said the goal is to force the Revolutionary= Armed Forces of >=A0Colombia (FARC), the nation's largest guerrilla group, to= negotiate by 2006. >=A0(Julia Olmstead) --=A0 =A0Bob Armstrong -- http://CoSy.com -- 212-285-1864 Computing Environment : =A0http://CoSy.com/CoSy/ A WTC vision : http://CoSy.com/CoSy/ConicAllConnect/ Badnarik , Libertarian for President=A0=A0:= http://CoSy.com/Liberty.htm =A0=A0=A0For Senator from NY : http://www.silbergerforsenator.org/ =A0=A0WHY DOES THE UNITED STATES INCARCERATE A LARGER PERCENTAGE, AND A LARGER NUMBER, OF ITS CITIZENS THAN ANY OTHER NATION ON= EARTH?=A0 =A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A02004/06/29 10:59:18 AM