WikiLeaks: Colombia began using U.S. drones for counterterrorism in 2006

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Washington Post

WikiLeaks: Colombia began using U.S. drones for counterterrorism in 2006
By Karen DeYoung, Wednesday, March 23, 10:53 PM

The Colombian military began using U.S.-supplied surveillance drones for counterterrorism and counter-narcotics operations in 2006, according to a classified State Department cable released Wednesday by WikiLeaks.

The small, ScanEagle unmanned aircraft transmits real-time video of stationary and moving targets. According to the December 2006 cable from then-U.S. Ambassador to Colombia William B. Wood, the aircraft initially were to be used “to support U.S. hostage rescue efforts and assist” the Colombian military’s pursuit of guerrilla leaders.

“But it promises to be equally useful for combat against terrorists and in riverine drug interdiction,” Wood wrote.

The cable, which referred to a “test package” of drones that arrived in Colombia in July 2006, called them a “potentially high-impact new addition” to U.S.-Colombian intelligence cooperation.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/wikileaks-colombia-began-using-us-drones-for-counterterrorism-in-2006/2011/03/23/AB0nTjLB_story.html