Pubdate: Tue, 19 Jul 2005
Source: Naples Daily News (FL)
Copyright: 2005 Naples Daily News.
Contact:  http://www.naplesnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/284
Author: Janna Bowman, The Providence Journal
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)

MOVING THE GOALPOSTS IN COLOMBIA

WASHINGTON -- According to the U.S. government's own statistics, the 
aims of U.S. policy in Colombia are not being met.

At the same time, the State Department is withholding certification 
of the Colombian military's human-rights record, owing to stalled 
rights cases involving the armed forces and their ties with 
paramilitary groups. In February, eight members of the San Jose de 
Apartado peace community, including women and children, were killed; 
the community asserts, and physical evidence points to the military's 
culpability.

Unfortunately, Congress doesn't seem to find this disturbing enough; 
it has approved another $742 million to maintain current U.S. policy 
in Colombia, dubbed "Plan Colombia." When Congress first passed the 
funding, in 2000, it established a five-year lifespan. Congressional 
policymakers have now concluded that this military strategy is 
effective and worthy of renewal with taxpayer dollars.

They are wrong. They were duped by the Bush administration's creative 
but ultimately deceptive number games, and carried away by the 
increasingly desperate drumbeat of war. Despite more than $3 billion 
pumped into the Colombian military in the past five years, neither of 
Plan Colombia's twin aims of reducing the amount of drugs on U.S. 
streets and of increasing Colombian security has been met.

Colombia remains the No. 1 producer of cocaine. The drug problem is 
set against the backdrop of a protracted conflict between guerrilla 
groups and paramilitary forces with documented ties to the military. 
In 2000, a few wise members of Congress warned against entering into 
yet another such military quagmire.

How have these concerns played out? Human costs and long-term 
possibilities for peace aside, let's look at the numbers. Even by the 
U.S. government's own estimate, the aerial-spray approach of 
eradicating coca (the raw material of cocaine) is ineffective. 
According to a report released by the White House, despite record 
levels of fumigation in 2004, the amount of coca produced in Colombia 
has remained the same or even slightly increased.

My organization, Witness for Peace (WFP), has been on the ground 
monitoring the effects of these U.S. policies since 2001. And now a 
U.S. Embassy official has told us that the U.S. government is making 
"first downs" in Colombia, and that enough first downs will 
eventually lead to the "goal line."

Yet the data conclusively show that this approach is ineffective in 
getting us there. Five years of in-country documentation make clear 
that this policy destroys food crops and hope in the countryside. 
This destroys trust in the Colombian and U.S. governments more 
effectively than it destroys coca. And while the Colombian government 
boasts increased security and an improvised demobilization of the 
paramilitary, the silence of the State Department indicates another story.

The State Department has been unable to approve the Colombian human- 
rights record this year; such "certification" is necessary to release 
part of the funding passed by Congress. The State Department, through 
an ambassador in Colombia who toes the party line and defends 
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, has been unable to rubberstamp the 
process, as in the past.

Shouldn't this give pause to our policymakers who just renewed 
military support for Colombia's army and police?

The House made a mistake in granting the Bush administration's 
request to renew funding. The Senate should not follow suit by 
renewing a failed policy expiring this year. Time is up. The State 
Department could do what is best for the people of Colombia and the 
United States by remaining consistent with its rhetoric on human 
rights and denying certification until true progress is made.

(Janna Bowman, who lived in Bogota in 2001-04, is a member of Witness 
for Peace. This article is published in association with 
MinutemanMedia.org, which originated it.)
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MAP posted-by: Beth