DRUG WARS AND HUMAN RIGHTS

As to the United States' recent statement on human rights and Thailand's
drug war, it is well-documented that about three years ago the US military
shot down a plane over Colombia they thought was carrying drug runners,
only to discover they were missionaries. Even if they were drug runners,
who made that military commander judge, jury and executioner?

It gets worse. A Chicago Tribune article about two years quoted an ex US
military man as stating that a few years back he blew up a cocaine facility
in Colombia even though he knew there were women and children inside. He
was "following orders". So I guess the Geneva Convention only applies to
"traditional war". Keep in mind this was under President Clinton.

And when the president of Nicaragua upset America because of his
unenthusiastic cooperation with anti-drug efforts about a dozen years ago,
the US invaded. The fact that 260-plus innocent Nicaraguan civilians were
killed in the raid was kept very quiet.

Don't get me wrong, I feel the anti-drug efforts in Thailand may be
extreme, but a human rights statement should have come from Sweden, or
Finland, not the USA..

Actually, I feel the whole war on drugs is a waste of time. If someone
wants to smoke a little marijuana or die of a heart attack from speed or
cocaine, just let them.

Last week a Malaysian man got sentenced to one year in jail for smoking
marijuana in his car, and in the same country a person convicted of storing
the expolsives for blowing up a hotel got only five years. Huh?

Change the laws in America and the world and stop going after people with a
couple grams of marijuana or cocaine who just want to party a little, and
go after the people running around with a suitcase of explosives, who just
want to murder innocent people.

American visitor to Thailand