KILLING OF MOTHER AND BABY PROPELS DOWNWARD SPIRAL OF BOGUS DRUG WAR

This drug war is such an ugly business, and it just keeps getting worse, at
home and abroad. Last week in the skies over Peru a mother and her
7-month-old baby were killed, mistaken for drug smugglers, shot down by a
Peruvian air force fighter jet with the assistance of a U.S. AWACS plane
operated by a CIA-contracted crew. As everyone now knows, the occupants of
the downed plane were actually American missionaries, not smugglers.

But what if they had been smugglers? Drugs or no, how have we arrived at a
point where it is ever morally justified to blow an unarmed aircraft out of
the sky?

This was not the first plane shot down by the Peruvians or with the
assistance of the United States. About 25 "suspected" drug planes have been
shot down over Peru in the past few years.

Our drug warriors are already calling for "restarting what's been a very
successful and important program in our national interests and the national
interests of the countries we work with," according to Mr. Reeker at
Wednesday's U.S. State Department daily press briefing.

Take a close look at that quote. In it, we find the central misconception
- -- or lie, as the case may be -- upon which all U.S. drug policy, including
the killing of mothers and babies, is based.

- -- Len Karpinski

Alaska chair, Libertarian Party