Pubdate: Tue, 13 May 2003 Source: The Monitor (TX) Copyright: 2003 The Monitor Contact: http://www.themonitor.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1250 RETHINKING COLOMBIA U.S. Should Reconsider Its War On Drugs A tragically botched hostage rescue attempt near Medellin in Colombia that left a governor, a peace adviser and eight soldiers dead last week serves as a reminder that the Iraqi campaign is hardly the only place in the world where American forces and taxpayers' money are embroiled in dubious conflict. The U.S. government has provided about $2 billion in equipment, training and other support to the Colombian government over the past couple of years - -- ostensibly to fight the war on drugs but with some spillover into the ongoing civil war. That war has claimed 3,500 lives a year and created thousands of refugees. It would be wise to revamp this policy rather than continue to throw money and materiel into Colombia. Two considerations should be paramount as Americans rethink this commitment to the Colombian war, begun at a fairly intensive level by the Clinton administration and continued under President Bush. Both have to do with getting serious about reducing terrorism. In the light of terrorist threats elsewhere, it is prudent to reconsider commitments made before Sept. 11 changed our understanding of the most pressing dangers in the world. If people with tragically extreme religious beliefs are the main threat to America, does it not make sense to redirect resources toward that threat? The second aspect requires more fundamental rethinking. Administration spokesmen talk about the links between drugs and terrorism. But the links that exist do so precisely because the United States insists on a policy of prohibition. It is prohibition that creates the sky-high prices for illicit drugs, making possible extravagant profits for those skilled in concealment, clandestine organizing and ruthless violence. It is prohibition that makes it possible for terrorists to raise money for their nefarious deeds by dabbling in the drug trade. If America really wanted to reduce the ability of terrorist groups to fund themselves, the most effective single step the country could take would be to repeal drug prohibition. Some will still argue that the costs of ending prohibition would outweigh the benefits of reducing terrorism. Possibly. But any discussion of reducing terrorism that does not include ending prohibition as an option is not a serious effort but an exercise in wishful thinking. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens