Excerpt from transcript, Hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, March 19, 2002

Excerpt from transcript, Hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, March 19, 2002
SEN. JEFF SESSIONS (R-AL): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I know that all of us are watching the Afghanistan situation and all the ramifications of it with great interest. I visited Saturday with seven of our soldiers who were wounded there -- just so impressive to be with them at Walter Reed, and just a sense of encouragement for me.

But we do have other dangers in the world. Let me ask you about Colombia. I noticed, Director Tenet, you in your statement only had a paragraph on Colombia. Admiral Wilson, you made no mention of it. But it's a nation of 40 million people in this hemisphere. It's the second-oldest democracy to the United States. We've got -- you think about Kosovo, a nation, a province of 2 million people, Colombia with 40 million, where we have real trading relations; a nation that represents a strategic part of that world, that it would be a monumental tragedy if the democratic progress that's been made were to be eliminated as a result of an adverse outcome in Colombia.

Let me ask you, first of all, whether the directions or suggestions of the moment or the committee that you omitted that, or does that reflect, Mr. Tenet, a relative lack of interest in Colombia?

MR. TENET: No, sir. I have a detailed piece in the classified statement. And in the unclassified form we've got a little paragraph in there.

SEN. SESSIONS: I'm sure that's correct. And I didn't mean to be catty about it. But I do think we need to think about the importance of Colombia, and it's not being focused on correctly. President Pastrana recently ended negotiation with the FARC, has rejected this safe haven he had previously given them in an effort to engage in peace talks and encourage that.

And let me ask you this, Director Tenet. Do you conclude that the narcotic terrorist guerrillas, communists, kidnappers, dealers in narcotics -- they've been indicted, I believe -- in the paper we've noted today -- for drug smuggling, that they used the time that they were given to strengthen their position, or was it a good-faith negotiation by the FARC with Colombia over the past several years?

MR. TENET: Well, sir, I think that they attempted to solidify their position in this regard. I think what they're trying to do now is, is basically destroy the will of the Colombian people to resist. You've seen what they've done since in terms of economic infrastructure attacks, terrorism, plans to attempt to take this to urban areas. The Colombian people are quite tired of them. I think there's a new will that's emerging down there.

Now, we are in the middle of an election. There will be a new president elected. There's a period that we're going to have to see what the new leadership thinks, who's elected, what they think about it. But this is a group that poses a fundamental narcotics -- narco- terrorists is certainly a good way to describe these people. But they pose a fundamental security challenge to the people of Colombia. And we still have a great outflow of cocaine from Colombia. The democracy itself is being challenged. This situation is -- I would tell you the administration is looking at it quite carefully in terms of our evaluation of it. But this is -- one paragraph here does not note the importance we attach to it from an intelligence perspective level of effort down there in trying to understand all of this. So you've put your finger on something that's quite important, sir.

SEN. SESSIONS: I thank you for that, and I certainly believe we need to focus more on it.

You know, the military in Colombia is not where it needs to be. The people seem to be coming together, though, in a way, and the military seems to be improving. The police seems to be improving. Is there something we can do to encourage them to be more effective in this effort against the communist guerrillas? And it would seem to me along that line that we ought to make clear that that's our policy. And I see some changes from the previous administration only recently that indicated -- our previous policy being focused solely on narcotics -- absolutely crystal clear, nothing else but narcotics was the basis for our involvement there. Is there a change in our policy, and how would you articulate our policy today with regard to Colombia and the guerrilla war they're facing?

MR. TENET: Sir, I can tell you that the national security adviser, the secretary of State, the secretary of Defense have this on the plate right now, actively looking at this issue, thinking their way through the problem. It's got everybody's attention. As to those policy changes, it'll come out of the administration whenever they conclude what their next steps are. But you just need to know that this is something that's actively -- the whole issue of Colombia is being thought of very carefully.

SEN. SESSIONS: Well, I know there are many things on their plate. But I wrote Secretary of State Powell on this issue not long after he took office, encouraging him to re-evaluate this policy. And I believe it should be done; it's overdue.

Admiral Wilson, we -- one of the things we have indicated that we would do to help Colombia is share intelligence. How will that help them in this effort, and how is that going?

ADM. WILSON: I made a trip to Colombia last year and met with my counterpart there, the head of the police intelligence, and all the military chiefs. And we -- and visited Tres Esquinas, the jungle base, for example, where counter-narcotics and counter-insurgency operations are ongoing. They clearly understand that they need better tactical and human intelligence on the foe, the FARC, that they face. And we are working with our embassy and with military and CIA to provide the kind of intelligence that we can that helps them, and to develop within their own forces the tactical intelligence skills that are necessary. And it's really the continuum from a national level view down to the tactical level that needs to be successfully worked by Colombia. And I think it's at that tactical level where they really have to help themselves, and where we have lessons learned and recommendations that can be helpful to them. We are engaged through the embassy and through the Southern Command on these issues.

SEN. SESSIONS: Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. And I don't see any solution to this at this point, other than Colombia being successful militarily. Perhaps at that point they can negotiate some way. But until they really get these people on the run, or either totally defeat them, that country is going to be weakened, incapable of stopping narcotics. We can't expect a country that doesn't control its territory to be able to stop narcotics. And so hopefully we can figure a way to support them in that effort.