MISSIONARY FAMILY - DRUG WAR CASUALTIES

The deaths of a 35-year-old American woman and her 7-month-old
daughter -- struck by bullets from a Peruvian air force jet while
passengers in a small plane flying over the Amazon jungle -- must
convince even the staunchest of defenders that efforts to stop drug
trafficking have crossed over from law enforcement to bona fide war --
complete with civilian casualties.

In launching the attack Friday, the Peruvian government made good on
former President Alberto Fujimori's July announcement that Peru would
use its fleet of 18 Russian-made Sukhoi-25 fighters in the anti-drug
fight. And the U.S. government finds itself a very uncomfortable
accomplice in the tragedy: CIA personnel aboard a U.S. surveillance
plane helped target the aircraft -- although American crew members say
they repeatedly appealed to the Peruvians to refrain from shooting
until the small plane's identity could be established.

The Peruvian air force authorized the attack. Once on the ground,
military personnel reportedly continued to strafe the craft with gunfire.

The plane had been flying over a route frequented by smugglers. This
single-engine plane, however, was owned by the U.S.-based Association
of Baptists for World Evangelism and carried four members of a
Michigan family -- victims Veronica "Roni" Bowers and her daughter,
Charity, husband Jim, 25, and son Cory, 6. The pilot, Kevin Donaldson
of Pennsylvania, was seriously wounded. He managed to land the plane.

Even if the plane had been carrying drug runners, can such an attack
be justified?

The U.S. government suspended its cooperation with Peruvian
shoot-downs in mid-1994 -- not because of objections to shoot-downs,
but because of concerns about liability if innocents were killed. It
resumed participation after Congress in 1995 passed a law granting
immunity to U.S. personnel in such incidents -- sending the appalling
message that such "collateral damage" is an acceptable risk worth the
potential benefit: putting a dent in the international drug trade.

So, has it come to this? The U.S. participates in a drug war that
completely bypasses the judicial system: Shooter, regardless of
government, becomes judge, jury and executioner. Shots are fired first
and questions asked later -- if anyone survives long enough for
questioning. Roni Bowers and her daughter became casualties in the war
on drugs.