THE COWBOY COPS OF PERU

What a sinking feeling many Americans experienced when they heard the
news that Peru had shot down a plane carrying American missionaries.

The Central Intelligence Agency had hired guns working on drug
interdiction with the Peruvians, and though details were elusive for a
while, there was fear that agents of our government had callously helped
to kill our own people.

A 45-minute tape of the incident, released to USA Today, shows that not
to be the case. The tape shows responsibility for the fatal incident
lies squarely on the shoulders of the Peruvians and their undisciplined,
macho excess.

Veronica Bowers, 37, and her 7-month-old daughter, Charity, are dead,
and the pilot of the plane injured. Her husband, Jim, and son Cory, 6,
weren't hurt.

Peruvian officials said they mistook the missionaries' Cessna 185 for a
drug runner. But the tape, which should have been released immediately,
shows the three CIA contract workers, who first spotted the Cessna,
tried repeatedly to keep the Peruvians from firing on it.

They disregarded the CIA agents' advice. They fired even after admitting
they were unsure that the plane carried bad guys. They fired even though
the Cessna was not taking evasive action, like a guilty drug-runner
might. They fired even before a Peruvian Air Force jet got a response to
its report on the Cessna's tail number. They fired even after the CIA
people called it a mistake to do so.

Their haste led them to ignore procedures and two people died who
shouldn't have.

If the incident shows us anything, it is to beware of our friends,
especially the johnny-come-lately buddies who are often our partners in
Latin American drug interdictions. In this case especially, Peru was
more cowboy than cop.