BARRY MCCAFFREY'S GOODBYE TOUR

Retiring U.S. drug czar General Barry McCaffrey showed up last week in
Colombia for a final meeting with President Andres Pastrana, but his visit
only raised more questions about what many see as confusion in the
U.S.-aided fight against the cocaine cartels.

Appearing before a handful of local and international reporters in the
capital city of Bogota, McCaffrey issued this daring prediction: "It is my
professional judgment, from watching your own leadership, that in the
coming five years you will achieve your objective of separating drug money
from the FARC, the ELN and the AUC, contributing to the peace process and
the economic recovery in this huge beautiful country."

Now, as far as many Colombians were concerned, McCaffrey might as well have
been reading tea leaves, for all the objective reality underlying his bold
assertions. As of now, peace talks between Colombian government officials
and the country's leading guerrilla group - the Revolutionary Armed Forces
of Colombia, or FARC - are on ice. The FARC says it's unhappy with the
government's approach to dealing with paramilitary groups, known as AUCs.
Meanwhile, rebel groups have set up blockades and cut off the main roads to
the Putumayo region of the country, where much of the coca is grown,
leaving most of that state without food, medical supplies and other basic
provisions.

Even McCaffrey's attempt at courtesy, a special mention in his opening
remarks of top Colombian drug official Maria Inez Restrepo, backfired.

Just two days after McCaffrey's visit, a teary-eyed Restrepo - a member of
Pastrana's inner circle in charge of the crop-substitution-and-eradication
program - addressed the country after her son was arrested in Miami for
alleged possession of cocaine while attempting to enter the U.S.

McCaffrey's primary reason for coming to Colombia was to stump for Plan
Colombia, Pastrana's $7.5 billion proposal for addressing mounting violence
that in recent years erupted into a civil war that has cost thousands of
lives. Leftist guerrillas are said to be using the profits from the sale of
drugs to finance their forces.

The U.S. has pledged $1.3 billion to the plan, most of that in military
assistance. For their part, Colombian rebels have denounced Plan Colombia
and promised to target U.S. officials in their country as well as to
abandon any talks to bring a peaceful end to the conflict.

McCaffrey was joined in his remarks by Undersecretary of State Thomas
Pickering, who startled observers by declaring that Plan Colombia was
already yielding important successes in the battle to curb drug production
and consumption.

When asked what results he could be referring to, Pickering replied, "First
and foremost, the major success has been both the development of the plan
and the international cooperation that goes with that. Secondly, the
tremendous amount of financing that has been put in place for the future
not only from the United States, but international financial institutions
of countries as far afield as Europe and Japan, as well as Colombia itself."

So, just having an expensive plan is enough.

Perhaps that explains how McCaffrey could issue his rosy five-year
prediction in the face of a recent congressional study that found Plan
Colombia isn't likely to cut drug production within six years, according to
an Associated Press report.

In any event, McCaffrey insisted that the U.S. won't be directly involved
in Colombia's civil war, but rather will supply only intelligence, and
Justice Department and political support in the international community.
"The United States' principal contribution to Plan Colombia will be the
reduction of drug use in the United States," McCaffrey contended.

Then why did so many military officials accompany the general on his
farewell tour?