COLLATERAL DAMAGE

The american and her baby killed friday in the u.s.-assisted peruvian
drug interdiction effort could not have been more innocent. There
should be a full inquiry with disclosure of cockpit and videotape
recordings, not just to fix blame but to fix the program before it
resumes.

Efforts to combat international narcotics trafficking have taken many
lives, none more innocent than those of American missionary Veronica
Bowers and her infant daughter, Charity.

The two were killed when the single-engine Cessna 185 they were
aboard was fired on last Friday by a Peruvian air force jet over an
area near Peru's border with Colombia and Brazil. The small plane was
wrongly suspected of involvement in drug smuggling. Over the weekend
Peruvian Foreign Minister Javier Perez de Cuellar said his country
was fully responsible for the tragedy, a view echoed by U.S.
authorities but disputed Monday by Peru's air force.

Because a U.S. plane involved in drug-smuggling surveillance was a
factor in the incident, it's vital that the documented record of what
took place be released. That includes cockpit recordings and a
videotape of the encounter.

The surveillance plane was manned by a crew under contract to the CIA
and also carried a Peruvian air force liaison officer. Along with the
Defense Department, the Customs Service, the Drug Enforcement
Administration and other agencies, the CIA regularly flies
drug-tracking missions. It was the CIA plane that first spotted the
Cessna, which is owned by the Assn. of Baptists for World Evangelism.

After it reported the contact, a Peruvian officer on the ground said
he could not find a flight plan for the plane. A Peruvian A-37 jet
was then sent aloft.

U.S. officials say what followed violated the rules of engagement
governing such encounters. The Peruvian jet apparently failed to use
international visual procedures to tell the Cessna to land for
inspection. Under orders from the Peruvian officer aboard the U.S.
plane, and over the repeated objections of the American crew, the
Peruvian jet fired on the Cessna, killing Veronica and Charity Bowers
and seriously wounding the plane's pilot.

The Cessna, meanwhile, was in contact with the ground over a civilian
radio channel. Peruvian air force personnel at the same time were
trying unsuccessfully to reach it on military channels.

The breakdown in communications does not explain or excuse the
apparent haste with which the Peruvians acted. Even as a spokesman
for the Peruvian air force insisted Monday that its personnel had
"followed the procedures," the White House announced the suspension
of the joint drug interdiction program because "there are questions
about the way the mission was carried out."

The administration also said the flights should be resumed as soon as
possible. However, there is much to be resolved first, including the
confusion over whether and when a flight plan for the Cessna was
filed. The role of the CIA crew, as reported by U.S. officials, can
and should be more fully explained by full release of cockpit voice
recordings and the videotape of the encounter reportedly taken from
the surveillance plane. Drug interdiction operations are important.
Even more so is making sure innocent lives aren't sacrificed in the
effort.