In this Alert:

1. New proposal to be introduced very soon expanding Military aid;
2. Action on the McGovern dear colleague letter in the House;
3. Action on the new proposal;
4. Talking points for your congressional calls;
5. Background;

Military aid to Colombia may be massively expanded if we don't act fast! The Bush Administration plans to propose a bill sometime soon (March 20 - March 25) to remove all restrictions on U.S. military aid to Colombia. That includes the language that limits U.S. assistance to counter-drug efforts, imposes human rights standards on the Colombian military, and limits the number of U.S. military personnel allowed in the country. See The Washington Post article for more information.

The bill will be a large counter-terrorism supplemental that asks for more money for global and domestic counter-terrorism efforts. But it will include language expanding Colombia military aid.

The administration is offering this bill now because they think they have support in the Congress for a change in Colombia policy. Rep. Jim McGovernm (D-MA) will be circulating a letter to the President for members of Congress to sign saying that they DO NOT WANT an expansion of military aid to Colombia. This letter will be circulated soon. We need to get a Lot of signatures on McGovern's letter in order to show the administration that They do not have a green light from Congress to expand military aid and turn a blind eye to human rights violations.

Action on McGovern letter:
There will be emergency national call-in days on Colombia on WEDNESDAY MARCH 20 and THURSDAY MARCH 21. Please call your representative and ask him or her to sign on to the letter on Colombian military aid circulated by Rep. McGovern's office. The congressional switchboard number is (202) 255-3231. If you do not know who your representatives are, please see: www.house.gov/writerep.

Action on the Bill:
We also need broad work on the bill. The bill that Bush is proposing will go first to the appropriations committees in the House and Senate and then to the full House and Senate. The debate on this bill is our chance to have a say on whether or not the U.S. broadens military aid to Colombia. Members DO LISTEN to what their constituents think. Call both senators and your representative. If you do not know who your senators are, please see: www.senate.gov/senators/senator_by_state.cfm.

Talking Points For Your Call: Increased Military Aid is not the Solution
Broadening military aid in Colombia could have a drastic effect on the country's already dire humanitarian situation. The 40-year armed conflict in Colombia has left almost 400,000 civilians dead. Many members of Congress have good intentions, and want to support an end to violence in Colombia. But adding more military aid is not the way to do it.

1. The Colombian military still maintains close ties with paramilitary groups, who are on the US terrorist list and who commit upwards of 70% of civilian killings in Colombia. Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and WOLA put out a report in February that shows that the military continues to aid and abet paramilitary groups, providing them with intelligence information and equipment and refusing to protect civilians from paramilitary massacres. Given the high level of cooperation between the military and the paras, it is likely that US assistance could go to officers and units who work with the paramilitaries. And as the paramilitaries' strength increases, attacks on civilians will also increase. Sending more military aid to Colombia is not going to help protect civilians.
2. Furthermore, it could pull the U.S. into the quagmire of a 40-year civil war. Colombia is the size of 53 El Salvadors, and the amount of money necessary to defeat the FARC militarily will be tremendous. There are other ways that the U.S. can help protect civilians from violence that do not involve getting pulled into this quagmire.
3. US support for a negotiated peace process with the FARC and the ELN, and real pressure on the Colombian government to break ties with the paramilitaries, will go much further at protecting civilians than increased military aid will. Violent actions on the part of the FARC have a tremendous human cost, but supporting a military that collaborates with the paramilitaries has a huge human cost as well. We can address both sides of the issue by supporting peace negotiations, judicial reform, and real development assistance for Colombia's farmers, which will help them switch from illegal to legal crop production and will reduce the drug revenue available to the FARC and the paramilitaries.

But we're going to have to work hard to convince our members of Congress. Please call your member of Congress immediately and express your concern over the proposal for more military aid, an expansion of aid to counterinsurgency, and an elimination of the human rights restrictions on aid. They need to hear from you!

Background on the new legislation
Since the collapse of the peace talks between the FARC and the government on February 20, there have been calls in Congress and the Bush Administration for an increase in military assistance for Colombia's war against the FARC. In his March 6 congressional testimony, Secretary of State Colin Powell Said that the "new situation" in Colombia meant that the Bush Administration would have to "readjust" its policies to help the Andean nation defeat "terrorists and narco-traffickers." Currently U.S. military aid is limited to counter-drug operations, but an end to this restriction would allow the U.S. money, training, and equipment to be used directly against the three Armed groups on the U.S. terrorist list-- the FARC, the ELN and the AUC paramilitaries. The Colombian military often works in collaboration with paramilitary forces and is in negotiations with the ELN, so the strong likelihood is that U.S. assistance would be used most often against the FARC.