US CONTRACTORS PAY PRICE OF WAR IN COLOMBIA

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U.S. Contractors Pay Price of Drug War in Colombia

BOGOTA, Colombia (Reuters) - Many Americans have heard of Jessica Lynch, the U.S. Army war hero briefly captured by Iraqi forces in March.

But how many have ever heard of Thomas Howes? How about Marc Gonsalves and Keith Stansell? The three Americans have been held in the Colombian jungle for eight months by Marxist rebels on the U.S. "terrorist" list.

The relative lack of public awareness is no surprise -- the men were not active members of the U.S. armed forces. They were hired hands, paid to quietly wage the war on drugs for a private company on the Defense Department payroll.

Contractors, many flying spy planes and crop dusters, play an increasingly important part in the U.S.-backed onslaught against the world's largest cocaine industry.

And analysts say their low profile, despite a recent string of disasters, has allowed them closer to the guerrilla war than Congress would ever let the U.S. armed forces.

"Compare the amazing amount of ink space spent on the episode of Jessica Lynch versus these three guys in Colombia, who have been held for months," said Peter Singer, author of "Corporate Warriors."

"That illustrates one of the clear rationales of why governments like to use these companies, because when things go awry, it doesn't make the headlines."

Proponents of the war on drugs boast private contractors are making history -- a third of Colombia's coca leaf, the raw ingredient in cocaine, has been destroyed so far in 2003, according to United Nations data.
"I think that the statistics speak for themselves in terms of eradication and the war on drugs," said Bill Todd, executive director of the U.S. Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.

The U.S. military is prohibited by Congress from stepping foot on the Colombian battlefield over fears of a Vietnam-style jungle quagmire. But contractors do not face the same restrictions and fly front-line missions.

The number of American civilians supporting anti-narcotics programs here doubled in two years to 355 as of Sept. 15, near the cap of 400 imposed by the U.S. Congress, according to a congressional official who asked not to be named.

There is no limit on non-American contractors, and more than 680 Colombians and "third country nationals" have been recruited, according to U.S. government figures.

Their jobs range from manning radars and maintaining aircraft to helping farmers voluntarily abandon drug crops.

The swelling private work force is part of a trend, not just in Colombia, but in hot spots such as Iraq and Afghanistan, for the U.S. military to outsource quick, cost-effective support.

"The idea is to hopefully shrink the size of government and increase the size of the contract work force," Todd said

"It provides to the U.S. government and the U.S. population the highest return on investment. We can get the skills, people that we need the quickest."

PRICE OF SUCCESS?

Despite restrictions on aid meant to limit fallout on Americans, 2003 has been the bloodiest year on record for contractors. Five Americans have been killed and three taken hostage in Colombia.

Guerrillas, who fund their 39-year-old war with drug money, have fired at and hit crop dusters more than 270 times this year, according to the U.S. Embassy in Bogota.

In the case of Howes, Gonsalves and Stansell, the engine on their small Cessna spy plane quit as they flew over a guerrilla unit in southern Colombia on Feb. 12 and they were captured.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as FARC, killed two crew members -- an American contractor and a Colombian army sargeant. They want to swap Gonsalves, Howes and Stansell for jailed guerrillas.

Attempts to find the men have failed. Three American contractors searching for them were killed when their plane slammed into a hillside, and the disasters are stirring dissent in Congress, especially among Democrats.

"We should all be concerned about the increasing use of contractors to carry out U.S. foreign policy," said Sen. Patrick Leahy, ranking member of the foreign operations subcommittee, which funds assistance programs.

"This is especially true when it involves private 'soldiers' who are not as accountable as U.S. military personnel, may not be properly trained, may not have the back-up they need, and whose motivations for carrying guns or flying helicopters may be very different from those of the Congress which is paying their salaries."
White House drug czar John Walters said the United States would not bargain for the trio's release.

And Colombia watchers fear the men could be forgotten by the American public, which may not be sure what contractors are, and the important role they play.

"We sit in the middle of the jungle. We are in the world of the FARC. We are not in our world," said Stansell, videotaped recently by a Colombian journalist. "You may show up (to rescue us), but when you get there, we're going to be dead."