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"A Real War in Colombia?" No interdiction program has had any serious impact on the supply of illegal drugs in the U.S. Rather, these campaigns have spurred new source countries, new trafficking routes and new drugs.
This advertisement appeared in the National Review, the The New Republic, the Weekly Standard, The Nation, Reason Magazine and The Progressive in the summer of 2000.
Available in Portable Document Format (PDF).
This advertisement appeared in the National Review, the The New Republic, the Weekly Standard, The Nation, Reason Magazine and The Progressive in the summer of 2000.
Available in Portable Document Format (PDF).
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Remarks on June 21, 2000, by Hon. Slade Gorton, R-WA concerning US military intervention in Colombia: |
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"Mr. President, the capacity of this body for self-delusion seems to this Senator to be unlimited ..."This bill includes almost $1 billion for an entirely new, and almost totally military, involvement in a civil war in Latin America, without the slightest promise that our intervention will be a success, and it does it in a totally backward fashion. "The very committee report that recommends spending this almost $1 billion says that the committee 'has grave reservations regarding the administration's ability to effectively manage the use of these resources to achieve the expected results' ... "This bill says let's get in a war now and justify it later ... "It just seems impossible to me to believe that in the absence of the debate of the whole country, with all of the lessons we must have learned not just in this administration, but in previous administrations, about how easy it is to get in and how hard it is to get out, we will blithely make this downpayment — and this is a downpayment only ... "Next year, maybe we will need a lot more money if they are not doing very well down there. And how much of the equipment is going to end up in the hands of rebels by sale or capture or otherwise? We have no way of controlling that without a presence on the ground. "I urge this body to say ... we are not going to do this until you first come to us with a formal overall plan with a beginning, middle, and an end, and a plan for how we are going to achieve our goals. Get the authority first and then fund it. It is 10 times better for this society to put that $700 million on our debt and not get in a civil war in South America. That is what this debate is all about — not that we don't like the Colombians or that we don't want them to be successful, but we don't want a part of their war." |
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Is the “War on Drugs” Getting Us In a Real War in Colombia? For more information, visit: www.csdp.org, Common Sense for Drug Policy, Kevin B. Zeese, President, 703-354-9050, 703-354-5695 (fax), info@csdp.org |
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