Pubdate: Sun, 27 Jan 2008 Source: Gazette, The (Colorado Springs, CO) Copyright: 2008 The Gazette Contact: http://www.gazette.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/165 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/walters.htm (Walters, John) FOOLING OURSELVES ON DRUG WAR White House drug czar John Walters recently criticized Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez for failing to stop the flow of drugs from his country into the United States and Europe. "Where are the big seizures, where are the big arrests of individuals who are at least logical coordinators? When it's being launched from controlled airports and seaports, where are the arrests of corrupt officials? At some point here, this is tantamount to collusion," Walters said in a story by the Los Angeles Times. It's hard to doubt a word that Walters said. What's confounding is the fact that Walters, who heads the Office of National Drug Control Policy, seems surprised. In his comments, one can sense an expectation on the part of Walters that Chavez might actually help with drug interdiction, as if he feels some responsibility toward free humanity in the West. It's time for Walters and his agency to lower their expectations. Chavez is not some neighborly, benevolent dictator. At best he's a far-left socialist, and some call him a communist. He hates the United States and he wants drugs pouring across our border. He's not stopping drug trafficking because he believes U.S. drug use, not drug traffickers drives the trade; it's not his problem. The sooner Walters realizes this, the more effective he will be. Nobody will keep drugs out of the United States, except the United States. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake