A TEST AHEAD FOR POWELL (AND HIS DOCTRINE)

ASSUME that Gen. Colin Powell is confirmed as President-elect George W.
Bush's secretary of state. Will his first challenge be trying to avoid
getting sucked into a Vietnam-style war in this hemisphere -- just the kind
of conflict his famous Powell Doctrine was intended to prevent?

Just as the administration of Gerge W. Bush's father bequeathed Mr. Clinton
a difficult American military mission in Somalia, the Clinton
administration is leaving the new Bush administration a commitment of
American special forces in Colombia, where they train antinarcotics battalions.

But a growing group of critics, including some Republicans in Congress who
initially backed the plan, are asking whether this fight isn't really a war
against leftist insurgents, a chilling echo of Vietnam.

Eventually, according to this argument, the United States could be drawn
into directly fighting the rebels, who have joined forces with the
narcotics traffickers.

General Powell, as secretary of state, would not be acting just as a
military strategist, of course; he would also be directing diplomacy. And
while President-elect Bush has said he supports Plan Colombia, already
there are hints that his administration may seek new approaches in Colombia.

In a speech during the campaign Mr. Bush said there should be more to a
Latin American policy than drugs. He noted that the United States imports
more oil from Venezuela than from Kuwait.

And people in his camp say that with the recent departure from the Clinton
administration of Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey, who designed Plan Colombia,
General Powell would have a freer hand to direct a broader policy.

In any event, General Powell will find that powerful leaders in the region
are increasingly opposed to the military focus of Plan Colombia. Instead of
military advisers and helicopters, they are asking for more development
aid, credits and trade to fight the narcotics trade by fighting poverty.

Still, even as the Clinton administration prepares to leave office, it has
been looking at ways -- perhaps by expanding aid -- to combat a "spillover
effect" from the Colombian drug war into neighboring countries from Panama
to Peru.

Does that sound like mission creep?