Excerpt from State Department Daily Briefing, February 24, 2003

Excerpt from State Department Daily Briefing, February 24, 2003
Daily Press Briefing
Philip T. Reeker, Deputy Spokesman
Washington, DC
February 24, 2003

QUESTION: Great. Colombia. I was wondering if there was anything new on the search-and-rescue operations or anything on the whereabouts of --

MR. REEKER: I think what I see new, of course, is over the weekend. As you are aware, the FARC, the terrorist organization in Colombia, admitted over the weekend that they are holding the American crew members of that plane. The FARC is responsible for the American crew members' safety, health and well-being.

And I guess all I can really say is that the Government of Colombia, assisted by the United States, is continuing to use all available resources to conduct search-and-rescue operations. And as I think we have indicated before, out of concern for the safety of the crew members and those involved in the continuing operations to rescue them, we really can't comment any further at this time.

QUESTION: Phil, can I follow up on that?

MR. REEKER: Yes, sir.

QUESTION: But at least there were reports that extra special forces were sent to Colombia or has been sent or will be sent to Colombia, and as a matter of fact, the President actually told Congress on Thursday or Friday that the cap that limited the troops in Colombia at 400 has been broken so he needed to use a waiver to do so. And the waiver states that it's because they're going to participate specifically in rescue and search missions.

MR. REEKER: Let's go over that because I think, again, it's a case where there have been some erroneous press reports, perhaps just on the basis of misunderstanding.

The report that we have sent 150 additional troops to support the search-and-rescue operation is erroneous, is wrong. And I think you can talk to the Pentagon and see if they have any more details at this point to share, but that report was wrong. I believe they said these are not special forces troops, but I will let them speak to that.

In terms of the issue of the cap, the emergency supplemental legislation, specifically in Section 3204(d), authorizes the President to deploy military personnel to carry out search-and-rescue operations for military personnel or other U.S. citizens without regard to the personnel cap, which is the basis of the limitations, the cap on the number of personnel, American personnel, in Colombia. So this provision makes clear that the personnel ceiling would not apply to search-and-rescue operations.

The main increase of U.S. troops in Colombia was not a response to this incident. There were pre-planned deployments of U.S. military trainers which began earlier this year as part of the ongoing effort to train the Colombian military and national police forces in counterterrorism and infrastructure security under the basic plan to support Colombia in those areas. So this training is part of the continuing assistance program.

And the plane incident that we are talking about here, which resulted in the death, as you know, the murder of an American as well as then the holding of these others, that began as those training deployments were taking place and so then generated some of the confusion, I think, about what are essentially two very different things.

QUESTION: But it's also clear that, I mean, the only reason why the waiver is being used is because the troops, at least the ones that exceed that number, they are for the --

MR. REEKER: No, you missed the point. Let's try it one more time.

QUESTION: All right.

MR. REEKER: Search and rescue, under the law, Section 3204(d), any personnel deployed as part of a search-and-rescue operation are deployed without regard to the cap. They are not part of the cap.

What the President was reporting on to Congress was increases beyond that, as he is required to report, for preplanned, previously arranged deployments to support the training that had begun earlier this year.

So this incident with the airplane and the requirement for search-and-rescue personnel occurred as that previously planned deployment was going on. That is what the President reported on. Any deployments involving the search and rescue are separate and unrelated to the reporting that the President did to Congress.

QUESTION: Then the waiver -- I mean, the waiver applies specifically to situations where you can go over that 400 when a situation arises like this one? I mean, that's the reason to --

MR. REEKER: Right. But he didn't -- we are saying the same thing, but he didn't need to do that for -- the law is clear. Read Section 3204(d).

QUESTION: I have.

QUESTION: Was there a waiver used, though?

MR. REEKER: I’m not aware that there was a need for a waiver to be --

QUESTION: Right.

QUESTION: Yeah, the waiver was used. I mean, the exception was --

MR. REEKER: That had to do with the preplanned deployments of the trainers, which is a separate category of people.

QUESTION: Yeah, but there I go again, the only reason to use the waiver was --

MR. REEKER: Then there we are, because I can't explain it any better to you, and I am happy to try all over again and see.

QUESTION: Is it possible that these special forces --

MR. REEKER: First of all, let me stop you right there. I told you my understanding is these are not special forces. You need to talk to the Pentagon if you want to get any more details on that. But we can't perpetuate the erroneous press reports that are out there and confusing everybody.

Go ahead.

QUESTION: Okay, let me rephrase my question. Is it possible that this military that was deployed in Colombia for training the police and the army in Colombia could be used for any special mission, like a search-and-rescue operation?

MR. REEKER: That is something you would have to ask the Pentagon. I just don't know.

Yes, Terri.

QUESTION: Was the waiver needed for this preplanned deployment? Are you saying there was no waiver needed or requested for any of these missions? Not the preplanned mission, and obviously not the search-and-rescue mission where it's not needed. Do you know whether a waiver was used for the preplanned deployment?

MR. REEKER: I don't have any other information on it, so I think what I have told you is as far as I know. There was a program in place to send additional trainers, the U.S. military, that was going on. And the Pentagon can tell you anything more about additional troops sent for search and rescue tied to this incident. But that is as much as I have. This really is a Pentagon matter that they would need to address.

As of February 26, 2003, this document was also available online at http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2003/17903.htm