THE REAL WAR ON DRUGS

With the U.S. and its determined president poised for war with Iraq, it is
more than a little discomforting to learn that the pilots involved in the
friendly-fire accident that killed four Canadians in Afghanistan were taking
amphetamines.

Maj. Harry Schmidt's lawyer said in an interview that his client was coerced
into taking the pills by the U.S. Air Force on the night the Canadians were
killed outside Kandahar. They had been conducting a live-fire exercise and
the U.S. pilots believed they were being fired on.

Amphetamines, sometimes called "go pills," are stimulants with a range of
side effects. The air force says they were used as "fatigue management" to
keep pilots alert. Apparently this is a common practice. While the pilots
may have been alert, or overly so, they certainly exhibited bad judgment in
ignoring orders to wait - and dropping the bomb that killed Sgt. Marc Leger,
Cpl. Ainsworth Dyer, Pte. Richard Green and Pte. Nathan Smith.

Lawyers for the pilots will argue that the two men, who are not career air
force members but Illinois reservists, are being scapegoated by the U.S.
military, which doesn't want to own up to its role in the death of the
Canadians.

But isn't it ironic that the U.S., which has long pushed a "zero tolerance
on drugs" policy, may be pushing pills on citizens who - subject to military
discipline - have little say in the matter. And we're not American-bashing
here. If it's common practice for one country, it's probably happening in
many places.

Maybe it's time we lifted that camouflage curtain a little higher and looked
into just what rights soldiers in so-called democracies, including our own,
really have.