TRAGIC FLAWS IN PERU: LATEST REPORT SHOULD MARK END TO DRUG INTERDICTION EFFORT

A program for halting suspected drug-running planes in Peru has been
indefinitely grounded by a recently released Senate report. The evidence
demands this and more. The deaths of Veronica Bowers and her 7-month-old
daughter last April revealed tragic flaws in the joint U.S.-Peru
interdiction effort. This latest information adds to the argument for
ending the program for good.

The report from the Select Senate Committee on Intelligence offers new and
even more disturbing evidence about the death of Mrs. Bowers and her
daughter, Charity. Mrs. Bowers, her husband, Jim, and their two children
worked for the Pennsylvania-based Association of Baptists for World
Evangelism and drew much of their support from Calvary Church in Fruitport.
Mrs. Bowers and Charity were killed when Peruvian and American officials
mistook their association-owned plane for one of the area's drug-running
flights.

Among the most shocking findings in the Senate report is evidence that
Peruvian authorities had all the information they needed to avert the
tragedy. Instead, in a brief minute and a half, the Peruvian Air Force,
along with partners in the Central Intelligence Agency, hastily pegged the
slow-moving float plane flying in a non-suspicious pattern as a drug-hauler
and opened fire.

A Peruvian rider aboard the CIA plane that identified suspicious aircraft
in the region had a list of all aircraft with valid Peruvian registration
numbers. The missionary-owned Cessna float plane was on that list. A
Peruvian fighter jet relayed the Cessna's tail number, OB1408, to his
superior onboard the CIA plane. Inexplicably, the Peruvian failed to
connect the two.

The CIA agents aboard the plane serving as spotter for the jet consistently
- -- and at points vociferously -- cautioned Peruvians that they were acting
too quickly. Despite these efforts, the CIA's involvement in the whole
operation deserves more scrutiny. The agents failed to manage the operation
well or institute basic common-sense requirements, such as making sure they
could understand the Peruvians and vice versa. Despite the CIA's
observer-like role, the agency was complicit in the deaths.

U.S. Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Holland, has already pushed to end funding for
such interdictions. U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Detroit, sat on the select
committee that issued the Senate report. He has called for drastic changes
in the program, including empowering U.S. authorities to stop Peru from
using lethal force, a step that probably would have saved the lives of Mrs.
Bowers and her child.

The United States explicitly refused that power when the interdiction
program was established seven years ago. Authorities here wanted protection
against legal liability in case innocent people were killed. That prophetic
hesitation is a measure of the nation's uneasiness with the idea of
shooting down suspected criminals without representation, trial or anything
like due process.

A better option than trying to revamp the interdiction initiative is to
find other drug-fighting strategies. The United States must battle drugs on
all fronts, from coca fields to clinics. But it must not miss the lessons
of Veronica and Charity Bowers.