U.S. CAN'T FORGET FIGHT IN COLOMBIA IS OURS, TOO

COLOMBIAN terrorists sent a clear message to Alvaro Uribe as he was being
inaugurated as president of Colombia. Guerrillas with the Revolutionary
Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, lobbed rockets at the presidential
palace and in downtown areas that killed 19 civilians. The unmistakable
message: "Here we are. Come and get us."

Immediately after his landslide electoral victory, Uribe sought United
Nations support in negotiating a peaceful resolution to Colombia's
seemingly interminable violence, despite evidence that former President
Andres Pastrana's three-year "peace offensive" had accomplished nothing.

But Uribe clearly stated that he would meet violence with violence if
serious negotiations were rejected by the guerrillas. With the bombs of
Bogota, the battle is openly joined. U.S. policy toward Latin America
during the Bush administration is likely to be thought of as
before-and-after Uribe's inauguration. Despite the American president's
pledge to take Latin America more seriously than his predecessor, he has
not done so. But just as Sept. 11 quickly focused his mind, so Aug. 7 will
do the same for this hemisphere.

Why should the United States become involved in Colombia's civil war?
Because Colombia is a large country strategically located between Central
America and the rest of South America. Chaos there affects the region as a
whole. Some 90 percent of the cocaine that reaches the United States comes
from or through Colombia. Above all, we are already involved up to our
armpits. As they say, follow the money.

For decades, Americans have had a serious drug habit. Washington has made
that habit illegal, and thus for those who service our demand the profits
are enormous. Some Colombians, from cartel chiefs to peasants in the fields
growing coca, have benefited in differing degrees from this trade. But
almost all Colombians have suffered the consequences: widespread murder,
kidnapping, displaced people, unemployment, massive corruption and the
destruction of already shaky democratic institutions.

The only real, long-overdue response to this situation is drug legalization
to remove the massive profits. But since Washington politicians don't seem
to have the wisdom or courage to do that, and doing so would require
substantial readjustments worldwide, we must now settle for confronting the
symptoms.

Polls have indicated that a majority of Colombians would like U.S. troops
to come in and take care of the guerrillas. These frustrated and desperate
Colombians seriously underestimate the problem. But the vast majority of
U.S. leaders are equally simplistic or dishonest in their appraisals. They
have heretofore refused to see that the drug war and the civil war in
Colombia are hopelessly intertwined and that we cannot dump more than $1
billion of military aid in two years exclusively into fighting drugs, as we
have tried to do. That is futile and counterproductive. Washington must
support Uribe in his plan to double the size of the Colombian army to deal
decisively with guerrillas. And a greater emphasis must be placed on
infiltrating their forces and killing their leaders.

But that is the relatively easy part. We must also support Uribe in
carrying out a far more comprehensive, integrated plan that will deal with
a wide range of political and social issues, from strengthening the justice
system to weeding out pervasive corruption. This aspect must be taken very
seriously and funded-unlike the broad, unfunded proposals in former
President Pastrana's Plan Colombia.

Washington has taken a few steps in the right direction. Some military aid
can now be used against guerrillas or right-wing paramilitaries. The
instability in Colombia is increasingly seen as part of a regional problem.
There is some support for economic policies that will benefit Andean
countries, from the Andean Trade Preference Act to restructuring foreign
debt. There is some hope that recent FARC terrorism will get the even more
naive or dishonest European Union to face realities in Colombia.

The terrorist bombs were a message to Americans as much as Colombians.
Washington politicians and democratic leaders worldwide must finally face
the realities of the terrorist challenge to Colombia's democratic
government and institutions.

The problem will assuredly get worse, in Colombia and the entire region, if
we do not respond seriously and maintain our support.