PPG | Features | British Secret War in Colombia

In the week marking the 40th anniversary of President John F Kennedy's assassination in Texas, unprecedented security surrounds London for the visit of a former Texan Governor; George W Bush on the 19th to 21st November 2003.

Since the end of hostilities in Afghanistan and Iraq they should now have little to discuss, save how do they extricate themselves in order to get re-elected. Perhaps President Bush wishes to discuss the Anglo-American role in Colombia, and how that can be kept from the British public eye, in what is surely Britain's secret war.

In America, "Plan Colombia" has involved the issuance of just over $2 billion of U.S. Government funding for mostly Colombian use of military Blackhawk helicopters, and the spraying of coca crops with Monsanto mycoherbicides (makers of the infamous Agent Orange). It has been a fairly transparent, if not controversial, redirection of funding from Drug Enforcement Agency work to "anti terror" work.

Arguably, some note that fighting the Marxist led F.A.R.C. and Maoist led E.L.N. is an ideological battle worthy of the Reagan administration. Plan Colombia, US Government Spraying is done by a British company: Dyncorp Aerospace Operations (U.K) whose base, according to the Guardian is the "home of the British army" in Aldershot. Guardian

British aid support comes from the little known FCO Drugs and Crime Fund (DCF);

"which is active in Colombia and Bolivia, is aimed at reducing the supply of Class A drugs to the U.K. DCF projects focus on increasing capacity to intercept drugs being trafficked and not on combating production. DCF funds do not come from the aid budget. In addition, DFID contributes approx 19 per cent to the EC."

Britain's role however, has been much more covert, with little to indicate military involvement from the U.K. Government. Private British security companies openly advertise their wares of Special Air Service (SAS) and Special Boat Service (SBS) personnel in the Latin America arena, for corporate and private security in one of the most dangerous places on earth, but the British Government has been remarkably coy about its operations there.

Who should fly the planes has been a moot point between Washington and Bogota, and the inclusion of British as an arbitrary third party is no surprise to Plan Colombia conditions. The recent arrest of three I.R.A. men in Colombia saw increased British interest in Colombia's forty year old civil war, but does not explain what;

"Instructors from the counter-terrorist wing of Britain's Special Air Service are also reported to be polishing up Colombian commando skills in surveillance, ambush and close-quarter combat."

Martin Arostegui (23-10-2003) "Colombia battles Guerillas on local level," UPI, Washington Times

But bearing in mind the SAS are a world class AIR specialist unit, and that the spraying pilots used come from a British company (DynCorp) and one must question whether Arostegui's interpretation of "Colombian commando skills" indicating a few trainees in the bush, is not the same Comando Aereo or Colombian Air Force? (and therefore means a few pilots) One must question therefore, whether the training or deployment of this earlier attack, in Santa Domingo, was in any way attributable to British forces, and is the U.S. and the U.K. contributing to the total disrespect for human life in Colombia.

"Combat Air Command No. 1 (Comando Aereo de Combate No. 1) part of the Colombian air force, continues to receive U.S. aid and training despite its link to the December 1998 rocket attack against the village of Santo Domingo, Arauca, in which seven children and eleven adults died."

In comparative terms, Afghanistan, is a good example to see how successful the FCO Drugs and Crimes Funding has been. As the world's largest opium market, and the U.K.'s intention in it's earlier policy document '1998-2008: Tackling Drugs Together to Build a Better Britain' The U.K. determined the eradication of heroin from Afghanistan, which supplies 95% of total U.K heroin, by 2013. This supports the UNODC.

	Hectares	Tonnes
1999	91,000	4,600
2000	82,000	3,300
2001	8,000	185
2002	74,000	3,400
2003	80,000	3,600

House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 6 November 2003

In fact the Taliban did considerably well in reducing the levels of volume from 4,600 tonnes in 1999 to 185 tonnes by 2001. Since the Taliban's removal and the US/UK coalition became the occupying force in Afghanistan, the most recent figures available show that production is back up to year 2000 figures at 3,600 tonnes already.

Perhaps when Mr Bush leaves the U.K. to continue his war on terror or "pipeline wars," Tony Blair can explain to the British Parliament what is exactly the policy of the U.K. and it's armed services in Colombia, and assure us that British forces are not part of what Human Rights Watch calls the "Sixth Division" (Colombia only has 5 divisions) defending British Petroleum interests, as indeed it has been guilty of before Pilger.

Further, can Tony Blair inform Parliament on the British Government's position of the Coca Cola affair in Colombia which has claimed numerous lives of Trade Unionists and Human Rights officials, including the murder of the female rights activist recently. Amnesty International, Colombia Solidarity

Perhaps when Blair can answer these questions and more to the British public, can we be assured that the British forces are being used to serve and protect the sovereign realm - the U.K., - and not wasted for the realm or sovereignty of some multi national like BP or some other far flung country like Colombia.

Finally, the U.K. and U.S. were sent to war against "rogue regimes" in Afghanistan and Iraq to rid the world of the Taliban and Saddam Hussein. Yet provide military aid, in the guise of fighting narcotics, to the regime of Uribe currently residing in Bogota, where paramilitary violence and assassinations are commonplace and indeed appear welcomed.