BUSH IS RIGHT: U.S. MUST STAY OUT OF COLOMBIA'S WAR

President George W. Bush is taking a properly cautious approach toward U.S.
relations with Colombia, a troubled Latin American democracy riven by a
vicious civil war tied to the drug trade. His initial message to Colombia
is clear: Let's be friends and do more business, but don't try to involve
us in your war.

After his meeting this week with Colombian President Andres Pastrana, Bush
said he would move to renew and expand a regional trade agreement sought by
Colombia to revive its moribund economy. The idea is to generate new jobs
for workers in the illegal drug trade, from cultivation to distribution.

But Bush declined pleas from Pastrana and Colombia's largest rebel group to
participate in peace talks. Bush was right to say the negotiations are an
issue for the Colombian people to resolve. But he may have to go further
and ensure that the massive $1.3-billion military-aid package granted
Colombia by President Bill Clinton to fight illegal drugs is not used
primarily to fight the leftist rebels.

He also should be prepared to deal with a paradox of the drug war in
Colombia: A successful crackdown there is likely to shift the narcotic
crops to neighboring nations such as Ecuador, potentially broadening
guerrilla activity and threatening the stability of other governments in
the region. Ecuador already has asked Washington for help in countering the
expected move of drug cartels into its territory.

Pastrana went out of his way earlier to say that Colombia would never be
like Vietnam for the United States. But the very fact that he had to offer
such assurances shows the level of concern about possible U.S. military
involvement in the civil conflict and drug war.

And because the real issue is reducing the use of drugs in the United
States, Bush should listen to his own secretary of defense, Donald
Rumsfeld, who told a Senate committee recently that the nation would be
better off focusing on reducing demand at home rather than trying to
restrict supply abroad.