TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2004
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
7A
President Bush reaffirms Colombian aid pledge
CARTAGENA, Colombia Under a security web of warplanes, ships and 15,000 troops President Bush praised Colombia's battle against drugs and Marxist guerrillas yesterday and pledged to keep U.S. aid flowing so "this courageous nation can win its war against narcoterrorists."
Colombian President Alvaro Uibe Vetez and his wife, Lina, welcome President Bush and first lady Laura Bush, left, for an official visit yesterday in Cartagena,
Columbia. Lawrence Jeckson/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
In a country that is the world's largest producer of cocaine and a major supplier of heroin, Bush said President Alvaro Uribe is achieving results with a massive aerial fumigation program against coca — the main ingredient in cocaine — and an aggressive military buildup against insurgents, who fund themselves through drug trafficking, kidnapping and extortion.
"The number of acres under cultivation are down significantly," Bush said, standing with Uribe in shirt sleeves at seaside lecterns. "The number of arrests are up. The number of murders is down. In other words, this man's plan is working."
Bush's pledge reaffirms U.S. commitments to a $3.3 billion, five-year military aid program known as Plan Colombia.
Uribe said Colombia was winning the fight, but has not yet won. "We have made progress but the serpent is still alive."
Bush said the plan launched in August 2000 enjoys widespread support in Congress and that he would work with lawmakers to keep it funded. Without mentioning a specific
figure, Bush said he would seek enough funds to make the plan effective.
Bush left Cartagena for his Texas ranch to spend the Thanksgiving holiday, arriving in early evening.
At Uribe's urging, he stopped off in this Caribbean seaport city after attending a summit in Chile of 21 Pacific Rim leaders. Security was tight.
U. S. Navy commandoes, toting assault rifles and peering through binoculars, patrolled the Caribbean in rubber boats where submarines and ships already plied the waters. Warplanes and helicopters provided air cover while 15,000 Colombian security forces were deployed around the city for Bush's brief stay.
Bush was here to strengthen relations in Latin America, but he also responded to news from Iran, which claimed it had frozen all uranium enrichment activities. The United States believes Iran is developing nuclear weapons.
Sounding skeptical about Iran's claim, Bush said, "Well, let's say I hope it is true."
But unwilling to take Iran's word, Bush said, Iran must allow for verification of its claims. "I think the definition of truth is the willingness for the Iranian regime to allow for verification," the president said.
Since Uribe came to power two years ago, Plan Colombia has helped jail scores of traffickers and reduce the coca crop by 20 percent for two years in a row, according to the
White House.
And the battle against rebel groups — the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known by its Spanish acronym FARC, and the National Liberation Army, known as the ELN — is being expanded from the capital of Bogota to more rural areas. Still, the efforts have
still failed to visibly reduce cocaine production or keep it off U.S. streets. And the 40-year-old insurgency continues to claim an estimated 3,500 lives every year
Bush said the outcome of the battle was critical to security in both nations.
"The drug traffickers who practice violence and intimidation in this country send their addictive and deadly products to the United States." Bush said. "Defeating them is vital to the safety of our peoples and to the stability of this hemisphere."
While in Cartagena, Bush met with Orlando Cabrera, a Colombian native who plays for
the world champion Boston Red Sox, and shook hands with more than a dozen elementary schoolaged baseball players.
One of the youngsters presented Bush with jersey embelloned with Cabrera's No. 44.
"He just missed it by one number," joked Bush, the 43rd president of the United States.
Powell promises election support to Palestine
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
JERUSALEM — Secretary or State Colin Powell made a new push for Mideast peace yesterday, promising Palestinians full American support for elections to replace Yasser Arafat and receiving Israeli assurances of a smooth path to the ballot box, including eased travel restrictions and letting Palestinians in east Jerusalem vote by absentee ballot. In one of his last overseas trips as the top U.S. diplomat, Powell sat down with both Israeli and Palestinian leaders, seeking to capitalize on new realities created by Arafat's death.
"I have come to bring a message of peace and commitment from President Bush that he wants to move forward on the path of peace, to take advantage of the new opportunities that are before us." Powell said in a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
Much of the discussions with the leaders focused on the Jan. 9 elections for Palestinian Authority president. Powell also visited a voter registration center in the West Bank town of Jericho, listening to Palestinians' pleas for a state of their own.
Though they mourn Arafat, many Palestinians feel a sense of excitement and possibility at the end of his one-man rule, anticipating the election that could help give them the first real democracy in the Arab world.
"Now the father is dead and everyone in the family has the right to express his own views," said Moenis Abu Imran, a shopkeeper in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
Nevertheless, extremists on both sides pose a threat, and it's far from clear whether Palestinian and Israeli leaders will have enough confidence and credibility to make the painful concessions required for any peace deal.
Israeli leaders assured Powell will do their utmost to allow 'he vote to take place, including easing travel restrictions in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Powell said the Israelis expressed a willingness to allow Palestinian residents of east Jerusalem to vote, a contentious issue because Israel fears doing so could undermine its claims to the entire city. Powell said both sides agreed that the model used in the last Palestinian elections in 1996 — allowing east Jerusalem residents to cast absentee ballots — could be followed again.
In a sign of an improving atmosphere after four years of deadly violence, Israeli officials also said they were willing to renew talks with the Palestinians on some issues, including security, and to coordinate the aftermath of Israel's planned withdrawal from Gaza and part of the West Bank in 2005.
Israel and the United States had refused to talk to Arafat in his final years, calling him an unacceptable negotiating partner because of what they said was his support of terror.
Arafat died Nov. 11 in France at age 75.
Abbas, Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia and interim Palestinian Authority President Rauhi Fattouh, among others.
The Fatah Central Committee chose Abbas as the party's presidential candidate late yesterday. Abbas, 69, Arafat's longtime deputy as head of the Palestine Liberation Organization, already has been named head of the PLO. If elected president of the Palestinian Authority, he would inherit two of Arafat's main titles.
Yesterday, Powell met with interim PLO leader Mahmoud
Powell said both Israel and the Palestinians must return to the U.S.-backed "road map" peace plan, which calls for a Palestinian state after requiring Palestinians to dismantle terror groups and Israel to freeze settlement building in the West Bank and Gaza.
The plan had been all but dead because of each side's failure to implement the initial requirements. When people in Jericho pressed Powell for a timetable for creation of a Palestinian state, he said: "It won't be determined by picking a date, but by progress and action on the ground."
Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said it wails in Israel's interest to see the Palestinian elections go forward, adding they could pave the way for a new leadership "with whom we
Powell announced his resignation last week. He told reporters in Jericho that despite changes in the Bush administration, President Bush's commitment to a Palestinian state "remains constant."
can sit down."
"I have reassured the secretary today that Israel will do everything in its power to ensure their smooth running," he said, adding Palestinians would have "freedom of movement."
Shalom did not say whether Israel would pull back troops. He said Israel would coordinate the election with the Palestinians but would not compromise on security.
An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Shalom also told Powell Israel is willing to resume talks with the Palestinians on other issues, including security.
Israel reoccupied West Bank towns during a 2002 military offensive aimed at halting Palestinian suicide bombings in Israel. Troops have since withdrawn from some areas, but continue to enforce travel restrictions on Palestinians. Palestinians say they need freedom of movement for the campaign and the vote.
Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat said Powell told Palestinian leaders "the United States will stand shoulder to shoulder with us to have free elections."
Powell also reiterated that the Palestinian must rein in militants, saying: "We have to ensure that terrorism and violence will not be permitted once again to stop this process."
Abbas is trying to persuade militant groups, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, to halt violence during the election campaign, but it is not clear whether they will do so.
Defiance in House won't end easily
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — Defying President Bush, Reps. Duncan Hunter and James Sensenbrenner — who led opposition dooming legislation based on the Sept. 11 commission's recommendations — said they wouldn't change their minds without Senate concessions.
The two men turned back a last-second deal Saturday to pass stalled legislation to create a new national intelligence director and national counterterrorism center. The overhaul was supposed to help the intelligence community track terrorist threats and was one of the biggest legislative priorities of this year.
There was nothing left but recriminations yesterday, with most of Congress heading home for Thanksgiving and Bush still on an overseas trip. No meetings of the bill's negotiators have been planned.
The House and Senate scheduled Dec. 6-7 meetings just in case a deal is reached.
Bush personally lobbied House Republicans and told reporters Sunday that "it was clear I wanted the bill passed." But Sensenbrenner (R-Wisconsin), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and Hunter (R-California), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, spoke against the bill in a House GOP meeting Saturday afternoon, forcing Speaker Dennis Hastert to pull it.
That defiance will have reper.
cussions, John Lehman, a former Navy secretary who worked under President Reagan, told CNN.
"This is the classic confrontation you see in Washington that they can sell tickets for," said Lehman, who also served on the Sept. 11 commission. "Because the president now has been challenged directly by the leadership of the Congress and by the lobbyists and by the bureaucracy. Now he's got to show who's in charge."
Hunter echoed Pentagon concerns that the realignment of intelligence authority could interfere with the military chain of command and endanger troops in the field. Sensenbrenner demanded that the bill also deal with anti-terrorism laws and illegal immigration
Sensenbrenner said the Senate had refused to negotiate on his issues until two weeks ago. Then, in direct negotiation by phone with Bush on Air Force One, Sensenbrenner said he gave up on most of his demands — including tightening up driver's license requirements so illegal immigrants couldn't get them — after Bush called that a "poison pill."
But Senate negotiators refused to budge on his other issue — reforming asylum laws so terrorists couldn't use them to enter the country — ensuring his opposition.
"In a military situation, being confused about the chain of command is a dangerous thing," Hunter said Saturday night.