No Plans for U.S. Troops in Latin Drugs : Sununu Says Bush Would Be Wary Even if Asked by Vargas

President Bush does not plan to send U.S. troops to Colombia to fight the cocaine industry, White House chief of staff John H. Sununu said today.

He added that Bush would be wary of doing so even if the South American nation’s president, Virgilio Barco Vargas, requested such help.

Sununu was backing away from comments made Sunday by Atty. Gen. Dick Thornburgh that the Administration should consider sending troops to Colombia if invited.

The chief of staff said the Administration drug policy does not envision sending U.S. troops to any Latin American country to fight drugs.

“There is a tradition in the Western Hemisphere, a reluctance for anyone to ask for troops and a reluctance of the President to commit troops,” he told reporters after meeting with the vacationing Bush.

Sununu also said Bush will submit a $7.5-billion to $8-billion anti-drug package to Congress next month that will include increased aid to Latin American countries.

Bush will present details of his drug strategy in a Sept. 5 speech to the nation.

First Specific Figure

Although there have been various reports on the price tag of the plan, Sununu’s reference to a cost of $7.5 billion to $8 billion marked the first time the Administration has publicly offered a figure.

Much of the money will be rechanneled from other programs, Sununu said. He said the main focus of the plan will be domestic, although it will contain funds to help Latin American countries fight drug traffic at the source.

Sununu said Bush made most final decisions on the drug package today, sending a series of directives back to budget director Richard G. Darman on where to siphon funds from other programs.

On the subject of new threats to American hostages held by Islamic militants in Lebanon, Sununu said there has been no change in U.S. policy.

“We are not going to react to each new threat,” he said. “The policy remains unchanged. The President underscored that the hostage-takers are responsible for the safety of all the hostages.”

A pro-Iranian group said Sunday that it would consider killing two American hostages if the French navy intervenes in Lebanon.

Avoidance of Attention

“Basically it is our policy not to try to increase attention on the hostages,” Sununu said.

Earlier, Bush spoke briefly with reporters on the golf course and said he had been briefed by Sununu on the latest threat to U.S. hostages and was leaving it to his staff chief “to explain our position.”

A pro-Iranian extremist group believed to be holding American hostages Joseph Cicippio and Edward Austin Tracy issued death threats Sunday against the two men if French ships in the Mediterranean intervene in Lebanon’s civil war.

The statement by a Shiite Muslim group, which calls itself the Revolutionary Justice Organization, was accompanied by a photocopy of a photograph of Tracy the group released Aug. 1.