EDITORIAL

A Job for the Border Patrol

Illconceived plan for wide use of military to block drugs is dropped

The job of the military is to be ready to fight wars against foreign
enemies that threaten the nation's security.

Interpreting that mandate broadly, the House last summer approved a
proposal to assign 10,000 soldiers to antidrug patrol duties along the
2,000mile border with Mexico.

It was an illconceived idea, a product of frustration over inconclusive
battles waged against drug smugglers rather than a careful assessment of
how military resources should best be used.

When the House this week passed the 1998 defense authorization bill, the
proposal to use ground troops in the war against drugs had wisely been
dropped from it.

Credit Senate oppositionand a cooler appreciation of what the military is
all aboutfor that outcome.

The military trains for specific missions. Taking on tasks best left to
Border Patrol agents is not one of them.

Combat training is also a continuing process. Interrupt it by diverting
troops to what are essentially police duties and military effectiveness
suffers.

The end of the Cold War has seen U.S. troop strength shrink to levels that
many consider troublingly low, given the responsibilities imposed by the
nation's global security interests.

Those troops must be kept ready to meet potential military threats on the
Korean peninsula, in the Middle East or elsewhere.

Most illegal drugs consumed in the United States enter the country from the
south, by sea and air as well as by land.

For eight years the military has provided limited support to the antidrug
smuggling effort, not always with the most satisfactory results.

Logistical and intelligence cooperation certainly should continue.

But the Border Patrol remains the best agency for drug interdiction
operations. The military has its own responsibilities, and its forces
should not be diverted to other tasks.

Copyright Los Angeles Times