Funding the disbanding of terrorist orgs...

While this is a non-Islamofascist terrorist organization in question (the rightwing paramilitaries -- A.U.C.), it does beg the question, "What to do with those rascally leftwing communist rebels on the other side of the non-existent negotiating table?"

What an interesting legal predicament: U.S. to help Colombia's demobilization effort.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A secret legal opinion has cleared the way for the Bush administration to help Colombia to fund the disbanding of a far-right paramilitary army despite a U.S. ban on "material support" to groups on the State Department's terrorism list, administration and congressional sources said.

The Justice Department's legal opinion could have significance beyond Colombia, setting a precedent for the United States to participate in future efforts to disarm other banned "terrorist organizations.

It still faces hurdles on Capitol Hill, however, from lawmakers who say the demobilization process is too lax on top drug traffickers and terrorists.

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, who met last week with President Bush at his Crawford, Texas ranch, wants Washington to help fund his demobilization program, under which former members the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia give up their weapons and disband in exchange for job retraining and in some cases pay.

But proposed U.S. assistance for the effort has been stalled for more than a year because some administration lawyers warned that any U.S. assistance to ex-combatants would violate a strict ban on providing "material support" to groups on the State Department's terrorism list.

Under the Justice Department's legal opinion, completed for the State Department on June 21, U.S. aid can legally flow to the demobilization effort provided certain conditions are met, sources familiar with the opinion said.

The opinion set out legal "parameters by which the United States can assist" in the effort, said an administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the opinion is confidential. "We can move forward," he added.