'CLEANING OUT' STATE DEPARTMENT WON'T HELP COLOMBIA

I am writing in response to your March 16 editorial "Clean the State
Department house," in which you call on President Bush to fire Anne W.
Patterson, U.S. ambassador to Colombia, and Rand Beers, assistant
secretary of state for international narcotics and law
enforcement.

Although I have sometimes criticized aspects of U.S. policy toward
Colombia and the Department of State's handling of specific issues, I
do not understand why your newspaper undertook this personal attack on
these individuals. I believe that both under trying circumstances have
acted to carry out a bipartisan policy on which Congress and the
Clinton administration agreed and which enjoys continued support from
the Bush administration.

By and large, our policy in Colombia is working. In the wake of the
recent aerial eradication campaign, it is increasingly clear that we
are turning the corner and should stay the course. There certainly is
room for honest disagreements over the implementation of our policy in
Colombia. There ought not be any room, however, for the sort of
one-sided, ad hominem bad-mouthing contained in your editorial.

Having conducted a number of oversight trips to Colombia, I can tell
you that Mrs. Patterson has done an outstanding job as the president's
personal representative to that troubled Andean nation. She has
undertaken serious efforts to improve the operations of our embassy
and has added new vigor to the prosecution of the drug war. In fact,
Mrs. Patterson has led the way in the ongoing coca crop eradication
efforts, which resulted in the destruction of thousands of acres of
coca. Mrs. Patterson is tough and dedicated; she is the right person
to fill one of the world's most difficult posts.

The situation in Colombia is as complex and dire as any I have ever
known in all my years in Congress. The consensus that backs our policy
is delicate. We must act responsibly to invigorate our national
resolve to oppose illegal drugs. Calling for heads to roll does not
help. Summarily removing Mr. Beers and Mrs. Patterson, as you suggest,
would loudly and clearly send the wrong signal to the drug
traffickers.

I invite you to join me, instead, in calling on our leaders, including
President Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell, Secretary of
Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld and my own colleagues on both sides of the
aisle in Congress, to work together to pursue a sustained strategy
that will lead to victory over the drug lords who peddle their poison
to our young people.

Cass Ballenger, Chairman, Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere,
Committee on International Relations, U.S. House of Representatives,
Washington

Editor's Note: The editorial referred to appeared in the Current News
Supplement, March 19, 2001.