The New York Times

Saturday, January 24, 1998

Illusions of a war Against Cocaine

Panama is debating whether to let Washington keep American troops there to combat drug trafficking after the 1999 pullout date set by the canal treaties. The proposal, called the Multinational Counternarcotics Center, is one of several efforts to, broaden the role of Latin American militaries in fighting drugs. It is dismaying to see Congress and the Clinton Administration return to a strategy that has failed and could harm Latin democracies.

'Washington is seeking to keep more than 2,000 soldiers in Panama for 12 years to continue coordinating radar searches for suspicious aircraft, a job that could be done from American soil. The troops would also train Latin American military and police forces in drug-fighting. The project needs the approval of Panama's Congress and its voters in a referendum. Some American officials say the proposal is a way for Washington to maintain ties and coordination with Latin militaries now that cold war rationales have evaporated.

Military aid and sales to Colombia have also been resumed, and this year Congress approved a five-year project costing up to $100 million to train and equip the Colombian and Peruvian militaries to interdict drugs transported by river. Washington has periodically pushed the Mexican military to take on an anti-drug role, and since 1996 has provided training, intelligence and equipment.

Some cooperation with Latin American law enforcement is useful. Crop substitution programs, which give coca-growing peasants economic incentives to switch crops, deserve expansion. But no one should put too much store in efforts to stop the production of cocaine in Latin America. Past efforts have not reduced the flow of drugs to the United States. A Rand Corporation study showed that source-country control was by far the least cost-effective way of reducing cocaine use. Treatment for addicts, it found, could have the same impact at a 20th of the price.

Even effective military operations show this strategy's limits. The Peruvian Air Force has stopped many planes carrying coca paste to Colombia for processing. But that success, along with a fungus that has attacked Peru's coca plants, has simply pushed coca-growing into Colombia.

Military strategies are not only ineffective, they can be harmful. The virus of corruption contaminates everyone who comes near the drug war, as the wave of recent arrests of Mexican officers shows. There is evidence from several countries that militaries have used their American equipment and training to fight guerrillas or to abuse human rights. The counternarcotics relationship has also led some Clinton Administration officials to praise officers and strengthen militaries that threaten civilian rule. These are echoes of cold-war abuses that the Administration should heed.