INNOCENT DRUG WAR VICTIMS

Americans were probably surprised to learn the other week that U.S.
intelligence officers help the Peruvian military track and identify
suspected drug couriers near the Peru-Colombia border. When a single-engine
Cessna was sighted flying over the Amazon jungle, the Americans notified
the Peruvians, who then shot down the plane.

The aircraft was not carrying illicit drugs but American missionaries. A
woman and her seven-month-old daughter were killed; her husband, their
six-year-old son, and the plane's pilot were injured.

According to U.S. officials on the scene, the Peruvians did not follow
"proper procedures" before shooting down the plane. Customarily, such
planes, once identified, are forced to land, and only attacked if they take
evasive action. In this instance, both the Americans and Peruvians were
unequivocally, and sadly, wrong. Tragedy or outrage?

It's an interesting question. The United States spends some $1.8 billion a
year to assist Latin American governments in fighting drug trafficking.
That amount is likely to increase. Last year, the Clinton administration
entered into an elaborate agreement with Colombia to provide more military
aid in that country's growing struggle against drug cartels.

A more significant figure, however, is the more than $60 billion that
Americans spend on illegal drugs every year. So long as that figure is so
huge, the temptation for poor farmers in Latin America to grow a lucrative
cash crop will be irresistible.

It is understandable that the United States would wish to help local
governments fight drug cartels and traffickers. The drug trade not only
harms American lives, but devastates those countries (such as Colombia)
where big-time growers and dealers practice violence and spread corruption.
The difficulty, however, is that as long as demand exceeds supply, we can
spend more billions every year to track single-engine Cessnas without
making much of a dent in the problem. This is not to say that the problem
is intractable in the first place, or that nothing should be done about
criminal activity.

But do we really wish to see American soldiers and resources pulled
inexorably into the front lines of the Drug War, of which Americans
themselves are the first cause?