Appendix 6. The CIA on Military-Paramilitary Links

For over a decade, leading Colombian newspapers, magazines, and the nightly news -- not to mention the UNHCHR, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch -- have published hundreds of reports and articles about continuing ties between the Colombian military and paramilitary groups. Yet these reports have apparently failed to make an impression on the CIA. In this excerpt from a U.S. Senate hearing, CIA director George Tenet is questioned by Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI):

SEN. LEVIN: Just on Colombia first. Do we believe that the army, or elements of the army have, in effect, quietly, behind-the-scenes, allied themselves with the private forces of the cartels to combat the growing strength of that insurgency? Are they still doing it?

MR. TENET: Well, we know historically there have been linkages between the army and paramilitaries.

SEN. LEVIN: Do they exist now?

MR. TENET: You know, I'll have to get you an answer. I mean, we still look at that very carefully but I don't know. I can't -- off the top of my head, Senator, it is something that we are concerned with.³⁹⁶

^396. Hearing of the Senate Select Intelligence Committee on Worldwide Threats to National Security, U.S. Senate Select Intelligence Committee, February 7, 2001.