also in this section: Pan American Day and Pan American Week

Private military companies in Colombia

from a note by US Representative Cynthia McKinny

and colleagues to Secretary of State Colin Powell

We are deeply concerned about the role of private US military contractors in Colombia. Last month, US citizens working for the private military contractor Dyncorp were fired upon by FARC guerillas during a rescue operation. The Associated Press reported that two other helicopters that fired on rebel positions as the rescue took place were also piloted by American contract workers. The US has the most powerful military in the world, and our own servicemen and women are fully capable of carrying out the objectives of our military engagement in Colombia. We question the rationale of the US government to use private military contractors in Colombia instead of US military personnel. Private military companies operate at a higher cost than our own military, and we lack direct control, oversight, and accountability for their operations. We would like to know why the US has chosen to use private contractors to carry out US military objectives in Colombia.

In addition, we are concerned that the US State Department has instructed the contract employees of these private military companies to keep their activities secret; at the same time, we understand that journalists can't get information from the State Department about these contractors because they're told these are private companies and their "commercial trade secrets" are privileged. It troubles us that information regarding contractors paid for with US taxpayer funds is intentionally being kept secret from the public, both by the State Department and the contractors themselves.

If these private military corporations are being used to avoid public scrutiny and the bad publicity that might ensue from body bags coming home due to an unpopular and poorly explained foreign adventure, then use of PMC's and quite possibly the entire Colombia policy are not sustainable and therefore, will not be successful.