CRITICS SAY WAR ON DRUGS IS MISGUIDED

TRIAD - Critics of U.S. policy and approaches in the international
drug war say the American government makes a tactical mistake in the
battle.

Many of the Latin American governments that the United States supports
not only aren't valid partners in the drug war, but are using it as
cover for repression of their own people or political opponents,
critics say.

"In Latin America, the source of most of the cocaine and heroin on
U.S. streets, the drug war not only (has) failed to curb protection
and trafficking, but has weakened democratic institutions," reports
the nonprofit group the Washington Office on Latin America.

The drug war has left the U.S. government aligned with Latin American
military and police forces with questionable to deplorable human
rights record, the Washington, D.C.-based group reports.

In nations such as Colombia, the origins for the conflict over
narcotics stems from abject poverty and the unconscionable gap between
the wealthy and poor, said Rosita Balch, staff member for Resource
Center of the Americas based in Minneapolis, Minn.

Poor farmers in remote areas of Colombia grow coca because it's the
only cash crop that can sustain their families, Balch said.

Rep. Howard Coble, who went on a drug trafficking fact-finding trip to
Mexico and Panama this week, said he's concerned about the impact of
depravation on the drug war.

"One of the problems we face is when you go to a farmer in Peru,
Colombia or Bolivia and take away the coca plant," said Coble, R-6th.

"They already are impoverished to begin with, and we need to give them
an alternative."

Many governments in the region have used the cover of the drug war to
go after political opponents, said John Walsh, senior associate for
drug policy with the Washington Office on Latin America.

"Our concern is that the U.S. government has chosen allies in the name
of drug war expediency, such as the military or police forces who have
historically and currently operate outside the law," Walsh said.