COLUMBUS AGAINST DRUGS SAYS FIGHTING CRIME IS EVERYONE'S DUTY

I read Mr. Chitwood's article of 23 August with some interest. Of
particular note was the comment by Mr. Lewis Solomon that marching was
not enough. Mr. Solomon was right on that count. He missed the boat,
however, regarding flooding the area with police.

The purpose of the march was to enlist the neighborhood. There simply
are not enough police in the state to flood every neighborhood in Columbus.

War, like life, is defined as the art of the possible. This is a war,
make no mistake.

To loosely quote Mao's book on guerilla warfare, "It is not necessary
for the water to love the fish ... it is only necessary for the water to
tolerate the fish."

Most of the leaders of Columbus Against Drugs have fought both
guerillas and drug dealers, and recognize that neither fight is
decided by the army or the police, but by the people. We have never
attempted to fight drugs in a neighborhood in which the residents will
not join us. They have to become the eyes and ears of the police.

If every veteran in Columbus will take his duffle bag out of the attic
and retrieve the courage he stored there with his discharge, we can
win this fight. Just walk over to the phone and tell the police if
something doesn't look right. When we stop tolerating drug dealers,
they will get out of our water.

Drug dealers are not brave, glamorous or heroic. They are cowards who
do not possess the courage to hold a job. They also have no way of
knowing from which house the cell phone call originated that put them
away. By whatever name you call God, this old soldier doubts that He
would ever tell evil men that you called.

Sam Nelson

President, Columbus Against Drugs