THE COLOMBIAN COCA CROP

"A Colombia Arms Deal and the Perils of Blowback" [Outlook, March 3]
provided an eye-opening glimpse into the shadows of U.S. covert operations.
How many "friends" will come back to haunt us, as Osama bin Laden did?

Our choice of friends and the tactics employed in this Colombian venture
are an acute example of how we continue taking two steps back for every one
step forward. DynCorp, one of the top 20 federal contractors, has sprayed
toxic herbicides over 14 percent of Colombia, purportedly to eliminate coca
crops. In Vietnam we sprayed close to 10 percent of that nation's land
mass, and we are still evaluating the harm the program did to that nation
and our veterans.

The war on drugs inflates the price of illegal narcotics. In the Hoover
Institution's Hoover Digest, Joseph D. McNamara, former police chief of
Kansas City, Mo., and San Jose, Calif., wrote that prohibition can cause a
markup of as much as 17,000 percent.

Prohibition today is a greater failure than it was with alcohol. The names
have changed, the product has changed, but the game remains the same. It is
a game that is deadly to our freedoms and our neighboring nations.

ALLAN ERICKSON

Eugene, Ore.