Ready for the War in Colombia?

More U.S. Military Aid to Colombia Possible-Report

BOGOTA, Colombia (Reuters) - The United States, which has concentrated military aid to Colombia on the anti-drug struggle but will now help defend an oil pipeline, could upgrade its assistance to the country's war effort, the U.S. ambassador here said in a newspaper interview.

In Colombia's El Tiempo newspaper on Sunday, Ambassador Anne Patterson said decisions on future U.S. military aid would hinge on the success of a new initiative to train and equip a Colombian army brigade to protect the pipeline.

Asked whether the plan to spend $98 million helping Colombian troops prevent leftist rebel attacks on the much-bombed Cano Limon duct could be followed by other aid to protect infrastructure, Patterson replied: ``Yes. But we are going to see how this project goes with the Cano Limon.''

She said there were more than 300 sites with infrastructure of strategic importance to the United States in Colombia and securing Latin American oil supplies was more important now with growing tension in the Middle East.

U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Marc Grossman said on Tuesday the U.S. government would ask Congress for $98 million to protect the 490- mile (780-kilometer) Cano Limon, which pumps oil produced by U.S. firm Occidental Petroleum Corp. .

It comes on top of massive military aid to Colombia's armed forces to fight the drug trade under President Andres Pastrana's ``Plan Colombia.''

Until now, the United States has said it only wants to fight the cocaine business and not get directly involved in a messy 38-year-old war which has claimed about 40,000 lives in the past decade.