Pubdate: Thu, 01 Mar 2001
Source: Newsday (NY)
Copyright: 2001 Newsday Inc.
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BUSH IS RIGHT: U.S. MUST STAY OUT OF COLOMBIA'S WAR

President George W. Bush is taking a properly cautious approach toward U.S. 
relations with Colombia, a troubled Latin American democracy riven by a 
vicious civil war tied to the drug trade. His initial message to Colombia 
is clear: Let's be friends and do more business, but don't try to involve 
us in your war.

After his meeting this week with Colombian President Andres Pastrana, Bush 
said he would move to renew and expand a regional trade agreement sought by 
Colombia to revive its moribund economy. The idea is to generate new jobs 
for workers in the illegal drug trade, from cultivation to distribution.

But Bush declined pleas from Pastrana and Colombia's largest rebel group to 
participate in peace talks. Bush was right to say the negotiations are an 
issue for the Colombian people to resolve. But he may have to go further 
and ensure that the massive $1.3-billion military-aid package granted 
Colombia by President Bill Clinton to fight illegal drugs is not used 
primarily to fight the leftist rebels.

He also should be prepared to deal with a paradox of the drug war in 
Colombia: A successful crackdown there is likely to shift the narcotic 
crops to neighboring nations such as Ecuador, potentially broadening 
guerrilla activity and threatening the stability of other governments in 
the region. Ecuador already has asked Washington for help in countering the 
expected move of drug cartels into its territory.

Pastrana went out of his way earlier to say that Colombia would never be 
like Vietnam for the United States. But the very fact that he had to offer 
such assurances shows the level of concern about possible U.S. military 
involvement in the civil conflict and drug war.

And because the real issue is reducing the use of drugs in the United 
States, Bush should listen to his own secretary of defense, Donald 
Rumsfeld, who told a Senate committee recently that the nation would be 
better off focusing on reducing demand at home rather than trying to 
restrict supply abroad.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens