Pubdate: Tue, 29 May 2001 Source: Tulsa World (OK) Copyright: 2001 World Publishing Co. Contact: http://www.tulsaworld.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/463 NEW PLAN MORE OF THE SAME Throwing good money after bad. Pouring gasoline on the fire. Pick your cliche. Both fit. The new Bush administration drug policy toward Colombia, although it sounds as if it might improve on the old one, is only more of the same. U.S. administrations -- both Democratic and Republican -- seem intent on solving the drug problem by pouring money for military and domestic operations into Colombia and other South American countries. The $1.3 billion Plan Colombia was approved by Congress last year and runs until the end of 2001. It relies heavily on military cures. A third anti-drug battalion is now ready for service and 16 U.S. Blackhawk helicopters will be sent to Colombia this summer. Other portions of the plan, such as crop substitution and economic development efforts, also will be funded. Bush's $1.1 billion proposal, the Andean Regional Initiative, will begin in 2002 after Plan Colombia expires. About 46 percent is earmarked for judicial reform and anti-poverty programs and efforts to help coca farmers switch to legal crops. Bush's plan also recognizes that it is a regional problem and provides money for Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Panama and Venezuela. But the Bush plan differs most from Plan Colombia in the way the funding is approved. Plan Colombia was a two-year supplemental program and will expire. Bush's plan, however, is included in the annual appropriation process. In effect, it admits that the drug war in South America is a never-ending conflict. Such commitment could develop into a quagmire that could involve U.S. troops. It also runs the risk of financially backing unstable governments or ones that are not democratic. For all of the United States' good faith efforts to eradicate or at least reduce the flow of drugs from South America, the track record is not encouraging. According to a recent United Nations report, the coca cultivation in Colombia increased by 60 percent last year and the acreage under cultivation is much larger than originally thought. For all their good intentions and all the money for military operations and economic help, America's drug problem won't be solved until the demand drops. That will require as much effort and money on the home front as it does at the source. Rehabilitation, drying up drug shipments, better education and a more realistic approach to the drug problem here are the only weapons that will eventually help us win this war. - --- MAP posted-by: Andrew