Pubdate: Wed, 17 Apr 2002 Source: Ledger-Enquirer (GA) Website: http://www.l-e-o.com/ Address: P.O. Box 711, Columbus, GA 31902-0711 Contact: 2002 Ledger-Enquirer Author: Margaret Knapke FAILED DRUG WAR POLICY CONTINUES I and SOA Watch colleagues are more than halfway through a fast and vigil at Fort Benning, spanning the death dates of Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero (March 24) and Guatemalan Bishop Juan Gerardi (April 26). Both men - -- courageous advocates for the poor, and outspoken critics of oppressive U.S. policies -- were murdered by graduates of the School of the Americas (now called the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation). I have no doubt that Monsenors Romero and Gerardi would be similarly critical of current U.S. policy toward Colombia, both the chemical eradication of coca (and food) crops and the escalating militarization. The U.S. claims its intervention in Colombia is in the interest of maintaining the rule of law. But in fact our policy there violates both human rights and the rule of law. For starters, the drug war rationale for supporting the Colombian military has been refuted by a wide range of human rights and drug policy organizations. And calling this policy part of the war against terrorism similarly plays havoc with fact. Documentation from Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the U.N. Commissioner for Human Rights, and even the U.S. State Department shows that the Colombian military acts in coordination with right-wing paramilitaries. It is these "paras" who commit approximately 75 percent of the human rights violations -- 75 percent of the terror. So the Clinton administration's "Plan Colombia" -- by aiding and abetting the very military which aids and abets the paramilitaries -- has accelerated terrorism in Colombia. And the current Bush plan for further militarization can only increase U.S. culpability for Colombian deaths, in sharp contradiction to his War on Terrorism rhetoric. MARGARET KNAPKE Columbus - --- MAP posted-by: Beth