DRUG EXPORT IS BUT ONE OF COLOMBIA'S TROUBLES

As a nation, Colombia can be compared to a wrecked and crumbling mansion.
It has great possibilities, but where do you begin the repairs that will
restore it?

Last year, Congress appropriated $1.3 billion in Plan Colombia aid, mainly
for military and drug eradication efforts. But before President George W.
Bush met with Colombian leader Andres Pastrana this week, some experts were
saying that's not enough. There were calls in Congress for another $600
million to help Colombia in its fights against drug producers, entrenched
leftist guerillas, an abusive military and social devastation.

In his meeting with Pastrana, Bush opted for a narrow strategy. He agreed
to support expanding trade preferences for Colombia, but stayed out of the
government's meetings with guerilla leaders. It remains to be seen if the
Bush administration will maintain a narrow policy if Colombia continues its
free fall from stability.

The cocaine trade is dominant in Colombia because its government is weak
and its society fractured. But with the Panama Canal and Venezuelan oil
fields as neighbors, Colombia's dire situation is precarious beyond its
borders. That is precisely what worries those who argue that Bush should
look beyond the drug war toward a broad strategy to rebuild Colombia as a
nation.

But America is, and should be, wary of nation-building strategies. It is
unclear how success could be accomplished in Colombia, but we already know
what catastrophe looks like. The names etched on the Vietnam War Memorial
in Washington are a moving testament to a tragic failure of nation
building, one that looked four decades ago something like American
involvement in Colombia looks today with the insertion of American
helicopters and military advisers.

That isn't to say that the Bush administration should turn its back on
Colombia, or even restrict involvement to trade preferences and reduction
in cocaine production. The United States can't look away if Colombia
descends into anarchy. However, there is no mandate that the U.S. tackle
the rebuilding of Colombia alone.

Cocaine is a worldwide problem, causing as much devastation in Europe as on
these shores. Insurgency already threatens Colombia's neighbors, economic
instability is a regional issue and the further breakdown of Colombian
society will have wide repercussions. All of that points to a coalition
effort to help Colombia before it decays further.

Bush must listen to those calling for a broad strategy in Colombia. But he
should have a clear idea of what success looks like before he inserts more
troops and more money into what could be a quagmire.