GOP LAWMAKER SAYS DRUG WAR BEING GUTTED

Washington - A key House panel chairman accused the Clinton administration
Thursday of gutting the war on drugs by cutting Pentagon assets needed to
interdict U.S. bound shipments.

Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., based his allegation on a report by congressional
investigators that said the number of flight hours devoted to counterdrug
missions declined 68 percent from 1992 through 1999.

The report by the General Accounting Office last month also said the number
of ship days involved for the same purpose fell 62 percent during that
period.

Mica reacted sharply when Ana Maria Salazar, a deputy assistant secretary of
defense, said the Pentagon remains committed to the administration's
counterdrug strategy.

"I find this hard to believe," Mica said. "I find the war on drugs has been
sabotaged."