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.