From: Mark Keesee <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
NewsMax.com
August 11, 1999
Losing A Secret War
by Oliver North
WASHINGTON -- On July 30th, the remains of two dead
American soldiers were brought home from Colombia under the
cover of darkness to Dover Air Force Base. At 3:00 a.m. in
the morning on August 3rd, another dead American officer,
Captain Jennifer Odom was brought home in the dead of
night. Unlike the days of Ronald Reagan and George Bush,
who greeted the return of U.S. military personnel who died
serving our country, Bill Clinton chose not to attend.
It was as if no one at the White House wanted word to
spread that five more Americans had lost their lives
fighting a secret war in Colombia; a country which produces
more cocaine and heroin than any other nation on earth.
They apparently don't want us to know that we are also on
the verge of losing the world's most threatened democracy
to terrorists funded by the drug trade; and that all of
this has gotten worse since Bill Clinton was elected.
That's not to say that Bill Clinton deserves all the
blame. Colombia has been wracked by narco-terrorism for
more than three decades. But the Clinton administration has
done little to improve the situation. When Ernesto Samper
was elected president in 1994 with a campaign financed by
Colombian drug traffickers, the Clinton State Department
rightly decertified Colombia as an ally in America's war on
drugs. But instead of quietly acting to strengthen
democratic forces in Colombia, the Administration passively
watched as drug violence escalated, and nearly half of
Colombia fell under the control of narco-insurgents who
have waged a campaign of terror against the government.
In May of 1998, Colombians elected a new president; Andres
Pastrana, the Conservative Party leader. His campaign
focused on ending the threat of FARC (Revolutionary Armed
Forces of Colombia) violence and taking forceful action
against the drug trade. But promised support from
Washington never materialized, leaving Pastrana little
choice but to pursue a policy of appeasement and
negotiation; a strategy advocated by Clinton's State
Department. The result: increased violence and a 30 percent
jump in the drug trade.
Today, ten American citizens are missing, dead, or being
held hostage by narco-terrorists in Colombia. An estimated
450 Colombian police and soldiers are now being held
captive by the FARC. Thousands more have been killed in
FARC ambushes, bombings and terrorist raids. Last month,
FARC's boldest, bloodiest offensive to date moved battle
lines to within 18 miles of Bogota, Colombia's capital.
More than 118 soldiers and policemen were killed within the
span of four days. And throughout, Bill Clinton's policies
have exacerbated a deteriorating situation.
The administration's zeal for protecting human rights in
Colombia and its unwillingness to support honest and
courageous efforts like those of Colombian anti-drug chief
Rosso Jose Serrano, have left the government in Bogota
little choice but to bargain with the narco-terrorists.
As the growing carnage demonstrates, it is an approach
doomed to failure. White House Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey
was in Bogota when the bodies of the most recent American
dead were being recovered from the wreckage of their spy
plane. He returned to talk about drug rehab and education
efforts, but offered little by way of advice on how to keep
Colombia from descending into narco-anarchy.
Absent reasonable help from Clinton, McCaffrey, or anyone
else in the White House who claims not to have inhaled,
President Pastrana may look to one of his Andean neighbors
for a way out of his quagmire; the "Fujimori Solution." In
Peru, where drugs and terrorist insurgency had plagued the
political climate for decades, President Alberto Fujimori
declared war on the traffickers, and he meant it. It was a
head-on confrontation so brutal that many nations condemned
him for violating of the guerillas' human rights! But
Fujimori's war against the Sendero Luminoso insurgency
worked.
Unfortunately, the situation in Colombia has deteriorated
to levels President Fujimori never faced in Peru. President
Pastrana's efforts to eradicate narco-insurgency and
terrorism from Colombia by negotiation have failed. If we
really do care about human rights and the survival of a
South American democracy, we had better get engaged in a
hurry.
As Robert Charles of the House Criminal Justice and Drug
Policy Subcommittee explained to me: "Congress has been
trying to get the Clinton Administration to focus on
Colombia for the past half decade. The instability we're
seeing in Colombia is, to a large extent, the result of
Administration flip-flops, delays, indifference and a
general failure of resolve."
Unlike many other places where Bill Clinton has dispatched
American military forces, America's vital interests are
threatened by what's happening in Colombia. Unfortunately,
the solution isn't bombs and cruise missiles; it's a
sustained commitment of intelligence, law enforcement and
military resources. This is a war which can be won, but not
the way we're fighting it today.
COPYRIGHT 1999 CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.
Oliver North is a former marine colonel, who you may
remember from the Iran-Contra hearings, and currently hosts
'Equal Time' on MSNBC.
------------------------------------------------------------
All Rights Reserved © NewsMax.com
--------------------------- ONElist Sponsor ----------------------------
ONElist members are using Shared Files in great ways!
http://www.onelist.com
Are you? If not, see our homepage for details.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
