FOOLING OURSELVES ON DRUG WAR

White House drug czar John Walters recently criticized Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez for failing to stop the flow of drugs from his
country into the United States and Europe. "Where are the big
seizures, where are the big arrests of individuals who are at least
logical coordinators? When it's being launched from controlled
airports and seaports, where are the arrests of corrupt officials? At
some point here, this is tantamount to collusion," Walters said in a
story by the Los Angeles Times.

It's hard to doubt a word that Walters said. What's confounding is the
fact that Walters, who heads the Office of National Drug Control
Policy, seems surprised. In his comments, one can sense an expectation
on the part of Walters that Chavez might actually help with drug
interdiction, as if he feels some responsibility toward free humanity
in the West.

It's time for Walters and his agency to lower their expectations.
Chavez is not some neighborly, benevolent dictator. At best he's a
far-left socialist, and some call him a communist. He hates the United
States and he wants drugs pouring across our border. He's not stopping
drug trafficking because he believes U.S. drug use, not drug
traffickers drives the trade; it's not his problem. The sooner Walters
realizes this, the more effective he will be. Nobody will keep drugs
out of the United States, except the United States.