THE PRICE OF WAR

Drug Interdiction Is Not A Gentle Game. Has It Worked?

For years, the United States has been calling its attempt to stem the
flow of drugs (and the use of them), a war on drugs. The horrible
collateral consequences of that war -- the downing of a missionary plane
by the Peruvian air force -- should call into question not only the
actions of those involved but also the credibility of the U.S.
interdiction program.

A Peruvian A-37 jet, acting on information from an American surveillance
plane but ignoring the U.S. crew's reservations regarding the status of
the plane, fired on and killed missionary Veronica Bowers and her
7-month-old daughter, Charity.

Kevin Donaldson, pilot of the pontoon plane also carrying Bowers'
missionary husband, Jim, and their 6-year-old son, Cory, managed a river
landing despite wounds in both legs.

Until this incident, U.S. officials had been praising the collaboration
with Peru that sought to stop coca from being shipped from Peruvian
fields to Colombia for distribution to the United States by the drug
cartels.

Now, the program of forcing (or shooting) down suspected drug
traffickers has been suspended and will be re-examined, according to
Secretary of State Colin Powell. It should be.

The re-examination can begin with the procedures followed (or ignored)
when an American surveillance plane locates a plane that might be
carrying drug traffickers. The Peruvian officer aboard the U.S.-owned
Cessna jet ignored the protestations of the American crew, although the
Americans leave it to Peruvian military and aeronautic officials to
determine the status of any suspicious planes that they identify. (U.S.
personnel usually try to identity aircraft by their tail numbers. They
did not this time for fear the plane would flee Peruvian air space
before interceptors could be sent up.)

The Peruvian pilot shot first, and now, later, questions are being
asked. He either accelerated or omitted procedures required to identify
a plane and to force it down. In the past six years, Peruvian pilots
have shot down 30 planes and made the sky dangerous for drug traffickers
- -- but at a price.

The U.S. participated, knowing and accepting the risk that such an
incident could occur in a ``war.'' In 1997, Peruvians also shot down a
plane without following proper procedures. That time, it was a drug
plane. This time, innocent civilians died.

The U.S. State Department calls the war on drugs in Peru a success.
Production of coca, the raw material of cocaine, is down 60 percent. Two
questions: Are Americans still getting cocaine? Is the price too steep?