BOGUS OFFER FROM BOGUS ARMY

This offer is too good to be true. According to The Washington Post, "The
leader of Colombia's paramilitary army has offered to help arrange the
surrender of as many as 20 of Colombia's top drug traffickers wanted for
trial in the United States. Carlos Castano, commander of the United
Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), said his suggestion, if carried out,
would fundamentally alter the multibillion-dollar war on drugs, creating a
de facto alliance between himself and the U.S. government."

American and Colombian officials say the offer is bogus. They say, Castano
cannot do what he promises; or that what he promises benefits his own
paramilitary army by cutting off funds for his enemies. Colombia's
terrorist rebels rely on the drug trade for funds.

We wonder why Colombia's top 20 drug traffickers would be so civic-minded
as to surrender.

But isn't all this beside the point? Let these 20 surrender -- let 200
surrender. They will find replacements at once. So long as the demand
exists, so will the supply. That is bad, but it is true.