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COPYRIGHT 2001 The Miami Herald
Byline: Juan O. Tamayo
May 22--BOGOTA, Colombia--As U.S. efforts to reduce drug trafficking out of the Andes escalate, more U.S.-supplied equipment is flowing into the region and more Americans are becoming involved -- and occasionally coming under fire. But because of the growing privatization of U.S. military efforts abroad, their presence is often unseen.
Increasingly, the U.S. government is contracting or licensing private American firms to carry out quasi-military functions in a practice known as "outsourcing," a practice that critics brand as the hiring of mercenaries. It is largely the result of the shrinking size of the U.S. Army and a reluctance to risk the lives of U.S. servicemen in foreign conflicts.
"Congress and the American people don't want any servicemen killed overseas," said former U.S. Ambassador to Colombia Myles Frechette. "So it makes sense that if contractors want to risk their lives, they get the job."
Opponents emphasize the dangers of carrying out foreign policy through private firms, claiming it is fraught with waste and conducted largely outside Congressional supervision or the public's view.
"There is little or no accountability in this process of outsourcing," said Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill. "This is a way of funding secret wars with taxpayers' money that could get us into a Vietnam-like conflict."
A Herald review of the practice has found that at least four American companies are conducting some of the key operations that implement U.S. foreign policy in the Andean region, from tracking guerrillas from the sky and helping to interdict airborne drug runners to running risky search-and-rescue missions:
DynCorp, a Reston, Va., firm that handles much of...
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