Pubdate: Fri, 13 Aug 1999 Source: New York Times (NY) Copyright: 1999 The New York Times Company Contact: http://www.nytimes.com/ Forum: http://www10.nytimes.com/comment/ Author: Jett Thomason COLOMBIAN QUAGMIRE To the Editor: Re Madeleine K. Albright's Aug. 10 Op-Ed article arguing that Colombia requires greater assistance from the United States: The track record of United States intervention in Latin America is abysmal. By increasing our participation in the Colombian war, we will only squander the gains made in the past decade of inter-American relations as well as fuel the fires of nationalism in these countries. Sending troops and military supplies to fight an impossible war and throwing money into a bottomless hole are ineffectual. Instead, the United States must fight the inaptly named drug war within its own borders. Drug prevention and education are more effective than trying to treat the symptoms of the drug problem: well-financed narco-guerrillas and violence in all branches of the trafficking chain. JETT THOMASON Irving, Tex., Aug. 11, 1999 - --- MAP posted-by: Thunder