DRUG WAR ONLY ADDING FUEL TO FIRE

Earlier this month, Bogota, Colombia, was rocked by a series of explosions
blamed on the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. According to
government sources, the bombings were part of FARC's decades-old insurgency
against the Colombian government. The bombings were the worst since peace
talks broke down in February. Last Thursday, suspected guerillas stormed a
provincial parliamentary building and took several legislators hostage.

Although the Colombian government is in no real danger of being overthrown
any time soon, rebels operate quite freely in some areas of the country.
It's no secret that they get a large portion of their financial support
from dealing, directly and indirectly, in illegal drugs. For this reason,
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration chief Asa Hutchinson believes the
United States should step up its support for Colombia's government in its
civil war.

The way things stand now, U.S. aid is limited to counternarcotics efforts
of the Colombian military. When the rebels are deeply enmeshed in producing
and protecting drug supplies the line between military and anti-drug
efforts blurs considerably. Hutchinson's answer to that is to remove the
restrictions and back the Colombian government in all aspects of its civil
war on the grounds that one effort aids the other. We'd argue that two
wrongs don't make a right and we have no business meddling in the politics
or the business of a sovereign state.

Besides, it's becoming clearer that right-wing paramilitary groups in
Colombia are also profiting from the drug war to finance its own
operations. The paramilitary groups historically have had ties to the
Colombian government and routinely battle the leftists who are fighting the
government. So, our drug war is financing both sides in Colombia's
decades-long civil war.