WHOSE FAULT IS IT?

WE come now to that time of year when the affluent drug user, the United
States, is supposed to superciliously remind his suppliers, Mexico and
Colombia among others, that he is their moral superior.

By March 1, President Clinton is to report to Congress on the drug-fighting
zeal of the countries that are home to the growers, processors and
smugglers who provide the drugs Americans are so eager to consume. A
finding of insufficient enthusiasm, or decertification, can lead to
economic sanctions.

Clinton spent part of the long weekend in Mexico with Mexican President
Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de Leon and gave every indication that he would send
Congress a recommendation to certify Mexico as a reliable partner in the
fight against drugs.

The finding would be contrary to the evidence -- but would be the best
course. Clinton will do as Reagan and Bush before him did: turn a blind eye
to Mexico's failures in damming the river of drugs in favor of an
understanding of political, economic and social realities.

Mexico is not doing better in the fight against drugs. Two-thirds of the
Colombian cocaine consumed in the United States travels through Mexico.
Mexico is also a major source of marijuana, heroin and amphetamines.

In the last year, seizures of drugs declined, as did the number of arrests
and of investigations under way. Requests for extradition of drug carriers
to the United States were refused. Corruption is pervasive in the military
and police.

Undoubtedly members of Congress will make those points in arguing to
decertify Mexico.

The points are valid, but the certification process is the wrong way to
establish them. Decertifying Mexico and imposing sanctions would be
foolish: Mexico will try harder if sanctions make it even poorer? And it
would be the rankest hypocrisy, a "stop me before I snort again" demand
from the United States to Mexico.

Clinton could waive the sanctions in the interest of national security, but
Latin American governments bristle at the arrogance of the certification
process itself.

"The fundamental question is, would we be better off fighting it together
or separately?" Clinton said. As long as the certification law is in force,
it is better to implicitly acknowledge America's complicity in the
international drug trade, and better to play "let's pretend" with Mexico
than "let's condemn."