AMERICA'S CRUSADE AGAINST COCAINE

The United States has a new name for its battle against cocaine in South
America. It's called Plan Colombia and is perhaps the most cleverly neutral
moniker ever given to an American foreign anti-drug operation.

The $1.3 billion plan is designed to aid Colombia's government in battling
coca, the country's number one cash crop. The key thrust of the plan is a
massive aerial fumigation and ground campaign that aims to halve the
country's cocaine output by the end of the year.

Plan Colombia breezed past Congress late last year with strong bipartisan
support and, most importantly, the delicate blessing of the Clinton
administration. The Bush Administration has since taken up the reigns, and
today, under the direction of Secretary of State Colin Powell, the plan is
becoming the most heralded hope for battling America's cocaine addiction.

Currently, the United States is providing hundreds of military advisers for
troop training and nearly 50 helicopters to handle spraying and troop
support detail. Although not permitted to fight, American military advisers
engage in training Colombian troops for jungle warfare and counter
terrorist tactics to battle the narcotics traffickers, guerrillas,
kidnappers and paramilitary thugs who have seemingly taken over control of
much of Colombia. About 300 civilians have also been contracted to fly and
maintain the helicopters.

Colombia's troubles

Civil war has been a way of life for many of Colombia's 34 million people.
According to a 2000 report by the U.S. Department of State, between 125,000
and 317,000 civilians were displaced as a result of violence and
instability in rural areas during that year. The Central Directorate of the
Judicial Police in Colombia reported 1,286 people were killed in 216
massacres across the country last year, and 25,660 were murdered.

These statistics place Colombia at the top of the world's most dangerous
places and as a country with the most rapidly deteriorating human-rights
conditions. Colombia's troubles are dynamic and it is difficult to pinpoint
just where to begin in healing the country.

For Colombian farmers, the introduction of coca cultivation some 20 years
ago was a godsend. Coca can be harvested upward of five times a year and is
turned into a concentrated paste form for easy transport cross-country.
This thwarts the lack of roads and infrastructure in rural areas. Even
better, coca is a cash crop that has maintained its value over the years
and consistently puts bread on the table.

A Peruvian farmer frames the dilemma of coca cultivation in an interview
with a New York Times reporter.

"The United States gave us help so we won't grow coca," 37-year-old Luis
Solorazano said. "But let's be honest. My children's hunger cannot wait for
the price of corn, coffee and cacao to recover."

Once more, demand for coca-based drugs in the United States has remained
steady. At any point when coca production has been down, scarcity of the
drug has simply inflated the U.S. domestic prices, creating even greater
economic incentive for Andean farmers to produce.

However, coca cultivation and cocaine demand are simply two aspects of the
complicated situation occurring in Colombia. The left-wing FARC
(Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia), a highly isolated and
nationalistic faction, has been at odds with the Colombian government for
nearly 37 years.

With its approximately 17,000 troops, this guerrilla group controls a
Switzerland-sized chunk of land in central Colombia and the coca
cultivation and trafficking activities within it. In exchange for a tax,
the FARC allows coca farmers and drug-traffickers to operate within their
zone, protected from government intervention.

The tax revenue, along with money from kidnappings and other outside
funding, keeps the FARC running. As of late, business has been booming.

However, the FARC is no Robin Hood organization. According to a 2000
human-rights report by the U.S. Department of State, the FARC is tied to
numerous human-rights abuses.

On July 14, FARC forces entered the Colombian town of Roncesville and
summarily executed 13 policemen. In the following month, FARC guerrillas
were implicated in a massacre that resulted in the slaughter of more than
20 civilians and military personnel. Many other examples can be cited.

The state department has also documented that last year, the FARC were
responsible for recruiting upward of 200 children as soldiers, kidnapped
more than 500 people and regularly implemented unspeakable torture for
extracting information and ransoms.

But the FARC guerrillas compose only one piece of the puzzle in Colombia's
civil war. Perhaps the most deadly and violent contingent of Colombia's
troubles are the paramilitary groups that have taken hold of a number of
rural cities, imposing harsh and oppressive rule over the civilian populations.

Of the numerous paramilitaries operating in Colombia, the National
Liberation Army (ELN) and the United Self-Defense Groups of Colombia (AUC)
are the worst. These ultra-violent, privately funded right-wing
paramilitary groups are sworn enemies of the FARC and are often engaged in
fierce battles with the group for control of territory and drug-trafficking
activities. Civilians are often caught in the middle.

One of the most recent and grisly massacres took place in Chengue, Colombia
on January 17. The event is described in a January 28 Washington Post
article, "Chronicle of a Massacre Foretold," by Scott Wilson.

"For an hour, under the direction of a woman known as Comandante Beatriz,
the paramilitary troops pulled men from their homes, starting with
37-year-old Jaime Merino and his three field workers. They assembled them
into two groups above the main square and across from the rudimentary
health center. Then, one by one, they killed the men by crushing their
heads with heavy stones and a sledgehammer. When it was over, 24 men lay
dead in pools of blood. Two more were found later in shallow graves. As the
troops left they set fire to the village. The AUC has been implicated in
the massacre."

Villagers have reported the victims were wrongfully suspected by the
paramilitaries as being FARC guerillas.

This type of incident brings to mind fears that paramilitary forces might
in some instances operate with tacit consent from the government, a
suspicion confirmed within the 2000 U.S. Department of State Human Rights
Report.

The report states that "government security forces continued to commit
serious abuses, including extra judicial killings," and that "paramilitary
forces find a ready support base within the military and police, as well as
among local civilian elites in many areas."

Colombian President Andres Pastrana made assurances on a recent visit to
the United States that Colombian troops would fight equally hard against
both sides in the conflict. Most U.S. officials believe President Pastrana
is genuinely working to root out government corruption in Colombia.

Likewise, FARC leader Manuel Marulanda has agreed to peace talks with
Pastrana. This is not the first attempt at peace during the 37-year
conflict, and any progress is sure to be slow.

And through it all, President Pastrana must keep the faith of the Colombian
public or risk losing office in a future election. A change of governments
could further cloud the future of Colombia.

Looking inward

International sentiment toward Plan Colombia has been critical. In early
February, the European Parliament voted 471 to 1 to reject European
involvement under Plan Colombia.

The United Nations currently plays no active role in Plan Colombia but is
critical of the aerial fumigation campaign and would like to see more focus
on humanitarian relief and alternative crop development in the country.

Much of foreign and national press attention has been skeptical of
America's war on drugs and has focused heavily on the lack of humanitarian
relief in place under Plan Colombia. Speculation has also surfaced about
the extent to which American dollars might be getting wrapped up in
Colombia's civil war.

My critique of Plan Colombia is much the same. Right now the worst tragedy
in Colombia is the humanitarian situation. Unfortunately, and as usual, the
United States got involved in this one to fight drugs, not to carry the
torch for human rights.

So I pose the question, is the best method to curbing U.S. cocaine
consumption attacking the source? No. We can eradicate as much coca in
Colombia as we want. Production will then move to Ecuador, or Peru, or
Bolivia, et cetera. This has been the case in the past, and the latest
reports indicate coca traffickers have already been seen entering into
Ecuador from Colombia.

Cocaine, like many drugs, presents a societal problem that exists because
of ever- present demand. It is arrogant and ridiculous for U.S. policy
makers to believe our current efforts in Colombia are helping in any
substantial way to curb drug use in America.

In a March 13 article in the Washington Post, four Colombian governors from
the states of Cauca, Tolima, Narino and Putumayo recently spoke out against
the U.S. spraying campaign.

They asserted that aerial fumigation is killing legitimate crops as well as
coca, making arable soil useless for months. Many people from rural areas
where spraying has occurred complain of sickness from consuming vegetables
and drinking water, and some farmers have reported crop failure.

Other options

I would argue that some of the best methods for reducing American cocaine
consumption could be achieved by investing right at home.

The budget for Plan Colombia is roughly the same as the yearly budget
allotted for U.S. drug enforcement. Interdiction and drug busts at home can
be hugely successful.

On March 4, the U.S. Coast Guard made a record-setting bust off the coast
of Southern California. Nearly nine tons of cocaine were seized, the fourth
largest bust ever.

Other options for the government to explore are drug rehabilitation and
prevention programs. Often underused and under-funded, these strategies, if
managed well, could prove to work wonderfully in reducing annual U.S. drug
demand and consumption. Both U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone (D-MN) and
Congressman Jim Ramstad (R-MN), a recovering alcoholic, have recently
voiced similar opinions.

But what Colombia really needs is some practical help.

First, the U.S. should help deal with some of the 2 million people who have
been displaced as a result of the general chaos of violence, aerial
fumigation and lack of governmental control. People are sick and hungry,
without home and work. If coca is a cash crop, unemployed laborers will
certainly flock to where the money is.

Another result of the lack of employment and poor economy in Colombia is a
high incidence of trafficking in young women and children for prostitution.
The U.S. Department of State reports that over 25,000 children under the
age of 18 are employed as sex workers.

Child labor is also a major problem. A Catholic Church study reports
approximately 2.7 million children work, including roughly 700,000 who work
as coca pickers. The list of major societal problems goes on and on, and
the humanitarian situation in Colombia is intolerable.

The U.S. must put forward resources to aid the humanitarian situation. We
must also play a role in protecting human rights and humanitarian workers
in Colombia. These people work to save lives. They should not have to work
in fear of losing their own.

Secondly, any and all U.S. military aid given to the Colombian government
must have stringent human-rights standards afixed.

This would mean the Colombian government and security forces could have no
dealings with paramilitaries, drug-traffickers, etc. Likewise, soldiers
must be held responsible for their actions and be punished if they commit
crimes.

If our standards are not met, the money and resources to the Colombian
military must disappear. Our tax dollars must not fuel the violence and
injustice in Colombia.

Third, the U.S. must help the Colombian government to weed out corruption.
International observers must be permitted to evaluate the judicial,
legislative and executive branches of government. Transparency is a must
for justice.

All cases of governmental corruption must be heard before a civilian court.
Guilty parties must serve their sentences. The rule of law must be seeded
deeply into Colombian society.

As one explores deeper into the complex puzzle of Colombia, one finds more
and more injustice, and more and more chaos.

The U.S. government needs to overhaul its war on drugs. If it is our goal
to eradicate cocaine, we are fighting a losing battle. Despite whatever
nobility lies behind our efforts, the United States is only further
entrenching the violence in Colombia. We as Americans claim to know what
human rights, democracy and justice stand for. It is then our
responsibility to become engaged in the humanitarian crises created in the
wake of our involvement.

Now is the time to become more pro-active in the world as a great people,
to work toward promoting the ideals we claim to hold so dearly ourselves.
Reforming Plan Colombia offers us an opportunity to do this. Let us not
pass it up.