REFINING CERTIFICATION PROCESS COULD AID WAR ON DRUGS

The United States can't fight the international drug war by itself. It needs
help. But the U.S. law that requires the president to certify whether
countries are cooperating fully with the United States, or taking adequate
measures on their own, is counterproductive. In the understandable opinion
of many foreigners, it appears to set up the United States as sole judge of
other countries' performance.

The United States can hardly afford to create that impression, since it is
the largest consumer of illegal drugs. On March 1, President Bush certified
20 of 24 major drug-producing countries, including Mexico and Colombia.

There needs to be a better mechanism for objectively determining whether
countries are cooperating. Sen. Charles Grassley has a good idea. He
proposes legislation that would require decertification only.

The Organization of American States should refine its drug evaluation
process. Last month, the 34-member body released its first collective
report. It found that every country needs to improve, the United States
included. But it shied from politically sensitive areas. If it improves the
reports' quality, Congress might eventually decide that it could safely
abandon unilateral certifications, or decertifications, altogether.

The ultimate goal is to eliminate drugs. It matters less that the United
States certify or decertify countries than that the job gets done.