Pubdate: Sun, 22 Nov 2009
Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution (GA)
Copyright: 2009 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Contact: http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/letters/sendletter.html
Website: http://www.ajc.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/28
Author: Bradley C. Schreiber
Note: Bradley C. Schreiber, the president of a government relations 
company, was a senior adviser at the U.S. Department of Homeland 
Security from 2007 to 2009.
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/opinion.htm (Opinion)

DRUG CARTELS RUN AMOK IN A POLICY VACUUM

The window of opportunity to bring down drug trafficking 
organizations in Central and South America is quickly shrinking. 
However, despite its recent efforts, the Obama administration still 
lacks the one thing that we desperately need to win the fight against 
the cartels -- a strategy.

While it may seem obvious, the United States surprisingly lacks a 
comprehensive plan to bring down drug trafficking organizations. The 
federal government does have some counter-drug strategies, but they 
are either too broad -- like the annual National Drug Control 
Strategy, which reads more like an "accomplishment report" of past 
successes rather than a "how to" manual -- or too focused -- like the 
National Southwest Border Counternarcotics Strategy, which addresses, 
among other things, ways to strengthen security along the border itself.

Drug cartels have become international criminal organizations that 
derive billions of dollars in income through numerous drug transit 
routes -- including through Mexico and the Caribbean to the United 
States and, recently, via Africa to Europe. Each of these routes 
represents a substantial lifeline for the cartels, and, if we are to 
succeed, all of them must be disrupted.

The U.S. needs a comprehensive plan that not only includes ways to 
more aggressively dismantle all the drug trafficking routes, but also 
focuses on stemming the flow of money to the cartels and reducing 
domestic demand. Further, the strategy must contain a realistic 
assessment of how much it will cost to reach our objectives. Any plan 
would be useless without the appropriate funding.

All of this, of course, raises the question: why don't we have a 
plan? The main reason is the absence of leadership from the top. Both 
Congress and past and current administrations have failed to provide 
the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) with adequate 
authority to direct, oversee and coordinate the plans and actions of 
multiple and diverse agencies involved in the drug war.

ONDCP was established by Congress in the late 1980's as an arm of the 
White House with the mission of reducing illegal drug use and drug 
trafficking. It is responsible for, among other things, overseeing 
the anti-drug operations and budgets of such agencies as the Drug 
Enforcement Administration, FBI, the Department of Defense and U.S. 
Customs and Border Enforcement, just to name a few. It also works in 
a variety of ways with state and local law enforcement. More 
importantly, it has expressly been given the responsibility for 
developing strategies and reports, including the nation's drug 
control strategy.

Given its role and responsibilities, ONDCP is the obvious choice to 
develop a comprehensive and effective strategy against the drug 
cartels. However, it has not done so, and will not likely do so, 
because it doesn't have the authority it needs to coordinate the work 
of multiple and often competing line agencies and other 
organizations, such as the National Security Council, that are 
involved in all aspects of the drug war.

Two ways can bring about the coordination among the various agencies 
that is essential if we are to have a cohesive and effective strategy 
against drug trafficking organizations. The first is for Congress to 
statutorily require it. This method has been used frequently with 
ONDCP and other agencies by placing what is called "report language" 
in either an authorizing or appropriations bill. It demands that an 
agency produce a report, plan, strategy, etc., on a given subject and 
submit it to Congress at a certain time. In fact, this was done for 
the National Southwest Border Counternarcotics Strategy.

The second way, which would be far more expedient and would show the 
clear commitment of the president to winning the battle against the 
cartels, would be for the White House to give its full backing to the 
ONDCP director, demand that an effective and workable product be 
developed, and require all the relevant agencies to participate. 
ONDCP was created for this very task. However, its current authority 
to decertify anti-drug agencies' budgets provides it with only 
limited leverage over the departments. The only way that ONDCP will 
get all of the interagency cooperation needed to carry out this vital 
task is to have the full authority of the president to make it 
happen. In other words, the president should let the drug czar be the 
drug czar.
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake