IN SHADOW OF DRUG WAR

Barry McCaffrey, the retired general who now commands the war on drugs, was
in Austin Monday and observed that one must speak humbly when talking about
individuals and groups in Colombia. "It's like shadows on the wall,"
McCaffrey said of the political situation there.

The drug war is like a twilight zone. Shadow and substance mixed with
dashes of superstition and ideas. Like those shadows, solutions are elusive.

During a visit with American-Statesman editorialists Monday, the general
talked of the need for looking at the Central American drug situation from
a regional perspective, and for policy makers, as well as the public, to
resist the temptation to think of Central and South American countries
imperiled by the drug cartels as one.

In Colombia, drugs and politics are intertwined. It is difficult to know
whether guerrilla forces once sponsored by Soviet bloc countries are now
under the wing of the drug cartels or whether they are the drug cartels.

In Mexico, it is difficult to discern friend from foe in the anti-drug
effort. And there is a growing concern, voiced by Mexican President Ernesto
Zedillo about drug consumption. Heretofore, Zedillo told a group of
American editors earlier this year, drug use was thought to be a problem
only north of the Rio Grande. That's no longer so.

McCaffrey said drug use also is on the rise in other Central and South
American countries.

The political influence of drug traffickers, once thought to be a problem
south of the river, is now on both sides. There is simply too much money to
go around.

If that is not news to you, then it certainly is not news to those who make
decisions, either political or operational, about the war on drugs.

And yet, the political rhetoric starts and stops at interdiction efforts.
The criminal justice system comes down hardest on street dealers and the
picture of drug users continues to be skewed. That's because it's flashier
and easier to fill prisons with street dealers than devote the kind of
time, effort and expertise it would take to bring down a well-financed.,
highly motivated and highly sophisticated international drug organization.

Besides, the general noted, the public's picture of a drug user is
"somebody else" even when the reality is that drug abusers come from a
spectrum of races and incomes.

It is the poor and the uninsured who get the notice, though.

Clearly, it is past time for an honest - perhaps painful - discussion about
drugs.

McCaffrey noted correctly that the United States and Mexico are in the same
lifeboat when it comes to the battle against drugs. The Rio Grande is a
line on a map, not a particularly difficult geographic hurdle for
determined smugglers.

So, what does it take to stop it? Focus, replied McCaffrey.

Ticking off a set of indicators of progress - an increased willingness of
the Mexican government to accept help was one example - McCaffrey noted
there was a lot more to be done.

More economic activity to generate jobs and hope as an alternative to drug
trafficking would play a part. So would training for law enforcement
officials, including judges and prosecutors as well as federal and local
police.

In short, McCaffrey's message was not one promising a magic solution, but
rather forecasting a long effort with not many guarantees.

To limit the growing of the drug traffickers would take a two-pronged
approach aimed at breaking the demand as well as the supply.

It will take time and patience, not to mention money, to confront the
problem effectively. Honest dialogue, not cheap and easy law and order
rhetoric, should be the cornerstone of that effort.