A DOOMED DRUG WAR?

'Plan Colombia' Could Become A U.S. Nightmare

A $1.3 billion U.S. aid program to help the government of Colombia stamp
out massive production of illegal drugs in rebel-controlled areas has
barely begun, but already is running into predictable problems.

Unfortunately, when President Clinton visits Colombia on Aug. 30 for a few
hours, the picture of what is called Plan Colombia will be more rosy-hued
than it deserves.

Most of the aid will pay for 60 U.S.-made helicopter gunships that will
ferry two new Colombian army battalions -- trained by U.S. advisers and
meant to be free of the taint of human rights abuse -- into coca- and
poppy-growing areas.

There, Colombian forces are to drive away guerrillas guarding the fields,
clearing the way for aerial spraying that, it's hoped, will diminish the
output of drugs that now flood U.S. streets.

It's not that simple.

U.S. policy is to provide equipment and training but to avoid involvement
in the decades-old struggle between leftist guerrillas and government forces.

Yet the guerrillas often work hand-in-hand with the narco-traffickers for
mutual benefit. There also are right-wing militias allied with some
elements of the Colombian military. How the new anti-narcotics battalions
will avoid hostilities with the leftist guerrillas, who already have said
they will target the U.S.-backed operation, is a mystery.

Very soon, the administration must either certify that the Colombian units
receiving U.S. aid are untainted by human rights abuses, or waive
certification on national security grounds.

Now that Clinton has so committed this country to this effort, it's hard to
imagine him backing off now, whether or not Colombian forces observe the
rules of engagement laid down by U.S. law. But perhaps he should.

An example of how U.S. aid to Colombia could ultimately link this country
to the horrors of that country's conflict is an incident last week in which
six schoolchildren were shot to death and eight others wounded in
circumstances not yet clear. Colombian officials say the children were
killed by rebels operating in the area, but eyewitnesses say rebels were
not in the area at the time but that government troops were. Even if the
facts, if they become known, exonerate government forces, the likelihood of
future incidents, including rebel attacks on American advisers, is bound to
increase.

Troubling as military prospects are in this seemingly unwinnable war, so is
the political outlook. The U.S. public, which has not been fully informed
about what's at stake, seems largely ignorant; neither major presidential
candidate has had much of anything to say about this or most other foreign
policy issues.

Brazil has turned down a U.S. request to contribute to the effort in
Colombia, and a coalition of 37 Colombia human rights and other
nongovernmental groups refused to cooperate because they object to the
overly heavy military content of the plan. Meanwhile, the drug problem in
the United States grows because of the failure to commit greater resources
to programs to treat and rehabilitate addicted people.

In this context, Plan Colombia looks like a disaster waiting to happen.