WAR COORDINATION (Star-Telegram editorial)

Imagine a situation in which more than 20 organizations are charged with
the task of completing an assignment. Not an easy assignment, either, but
something difficult in which there are no set answers or historical
information available on how to proceed.

Now imagine that the task has to be completed without one entity acting as
the project coordinator -- someone who can communicate with everyone else
on a regular basis, direct what needs to happen next, cut down on
duplication of effort and deploy limited resources to where they are needed.

Chaos, you say? Welcome to the United States' war on drugs.

Twenty-three federal agencies work along the U.S.-Mexico border in the
fight to block illegal drug smuggling. From the Coast Guard to the Customs
Service, the Border Patrol to the Drug Enforcement Administration, agents
are doing their best without central coordination to dam up the river of
ruin -- cocaine, marijuana, heroin and methamphetamines -- that flows north
into the United States.

The job would be more efficient (and, we suggest, more effective) if
someone was responsible for pulling all activities together. That's why
federal drug czar Barry McCaffrey's suggestion to appoint a "Southwest
border czar" to oversee the various federal agencies operating along the
Southwestern border is a good one.

As with any common-sense solution to a bureaucratic problem, the devil will
no doubt be in the details. McCaffrey will have his hands full cutting
through the inter-agency turf battles to develop a process and appoint an
individual who satisfies everyone involved. But it's an issue worth the
effort. Study after study has shown that illegal drugs are at the heart of
this nation's crime problems. The heavy toll they are exacting on precious
lives and resources demands an aggressive -- and coordinated -- response.

Checked-by: Pat Dolan