Colombian bases could accept more US planes: official

WAR REPORT

Top US military commander to visit Latin America
Top US military commander Admiral Mike Mullen said Thursday he would travel next week to several Latin American countries, including Mexico which is battling a raging drug war. "Mexico is certainly more of a concern to me. In fact, I take a trip next week to Latin America and stop in Mexico specifically," Mullen told reporters when asked about the violent drug feuds in his country's southern neighbor, where some 5,300 were killed last year. The United States is concerned "with the deaths, the drug issues, the kinds of things that we've seen grow dramatically over the last year. And I know that we're looking for ways to assist them in terms of addressing this kind of threat," added the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. Pentagon officials declined to provide further details on the trip. Rival drug cartels are fighting a bloody war in Mexico to control drug trafficking headed for the United States, the world's biggest consumer of cocaine. A government crackdown has seen the deployment of nearly 36,000 troops. Attorney General Eric Holder said Wednesday that US and Mexican authorities had arrested 750 people over a 21 month investigation in an anti-drug sweep of the United States, Mexico and Canada.

by Staff Writers
Washington (AFP) Feb 26, 2009
Colombia may allow more US aircraft on its air bases as part of a new military cooperation agreement being negotiated, visiting Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos said Thursday.

The move could allow the United States to make up for the potential loss of Ecuador's Manta air force base, key to counternarcotics operations in the region, should a bilateral agreement not be renewed, as Quito has threatened.

"We're expanding cooperation in every sense, including access to our bases and that is what we're negotiating," Santos told reporters alongside Colombian Foreign Minister Jaime Bermudez during a visit to Washington, where they met with US officials and lawmakers.

The deal being negotiated provides expanded access to Colombia's bases for US military planes, the defense chief said, adding that "instead of one type of airplanes, let's have this other type."

Santos expressed confidence that an agreement would be reached by next month to build on the existing Plan Colombia, under which Washington provides Bogota assistance in return for help in controlling massive drug trafficking largely directed to the United States.

Central to US efforts to stem the illegal trade is the Manta air base on Ecuador's Pacific coast, from where airborne radars comb the Pacific for ships and submarines carrying drugs.

Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa has promised the US base deal would not be renewed. "Sovereignty," he said after winning his runoff election in November 2006, "means not having foreign troops on our soil."

He said the Manta air base would be converted into an international airport when the 10-year base deal expires in November 2009 and US forces pull out.

In July, Ecuador's Foreign Ministry officially notified Washington it would not renew the base deal.

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For Iraq Veterans Headaches Continue After Traumatic Brain Injury

Seattle WA (SPX) Feb 27, 2009
Many soldiers who experienced mild head trauma or a blast exposure while serving in Iraq or Afghanistan are returning to the United States with headaches, according to a study released that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 61st Annual Meeting in Seattle, April 25 to May 2, 2009.

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