Pubdate: Wed, 30 Aug 2000 Source: Corpus Christi Caller-Times (TX) Copyright: 2000 Corpus Christi Caller-Times Address: P.O. Box 9136, Corpus Christi, TX 78469-9136 Feedback: http://www.caller.com/commcentral/email_ed.htm Website: http://www.caller.com/ DANGER IN COLOMBIA Clinton Visits One Of The World's Most Hopeless Countries President Clinton is not visiting Vietnam today. He's making a drop-in appearance in Colombia, a country that has become an eerie reminder of the early days of U.S. involvement in the jungles of Southeast Asia. Clinton's one-day visit to Cartagena, following his trip to Africa, underlines the release of $1.3 billion in military aid to help fight Colombia's drug traffickers and Marxist guerrillas. We are committing a lot of American dollars, military hardware, and military advisers in an almost hopeless battle in the world's most dangerous place. Consider the situation on the ground in Colombia. More than 300,000 Colombians fled their homes last year to escape political violence. Colombia's 23,000 killings last year gave it a murder rate 10 times higher than that in the U.S. Kidnappings, extortion and executions have become common tactics of the FARC, the largest guerrilla group. Violence by right-wing paramilitary groups exploded in the past year; one new method of killing developed in Colombia is to place a PVC collar filled with explosives around the neck and set it off with a remote detonator. The country is home to the world's biggest illegal drug industry and the most vicious of the world's drug overlords. The country's economy is at its lowest point in 70 years and, if the list is not long enough, recent peace talks between the government and guerrillas failed to achieve results. The only bright spot for this tragic country is that the United States is releasing the recently approved package of aid totaling $1.3 billion. We must move carefully in Colombia. The aid package does not in itself mean that the United States is on some slippery slope to greater involvement in Colombia's seemingly insurmountable problems. But it should make us feel a bit uneasy. Much of the money will pay for helicopters - including Blackhawks - that will be used by three new army battalions to fight FARC guerrillas in the remote, coca-producing areas of southern Colombia. U.S. advisers will help train these new army battalions. The aim of the United States is to help the government of Andres Pastrana reduce the flow of drugs from the guerrilla-held areas. One danger is that this war can spread to neighboring countries. Another is that it has the potential to involve the U.S. military in more than a supporting role. We should not always look for the specter of Vietnam in foreign trouble spots, but neither should we ignore it when it's there. Colombia, a struggling democracy, deserves our help, in large part because it would not be in the sad state it is in now if it were not for the insatiable demand for illegal drugs in the United States. When will we get around to the task of putting as much effort on reducing the demand for, and the consumption of, illicit drugs in this country as we do in trying to stop the supply at its source? Who will certify that we are doing a good job on the home front? Blackhawk helicopters won't help us win the war at home, and that's ultimately where it will have to be fought and won. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens