Drug War Report

I just put up a new link on the opening page of this web site under the "MSN Reports" column. The link is "Blown Away...Inside the Drug War".

[Bill123]

A great report...

By the way, what is "protection" money? I've always wondered what exactly is was. Does the money the drug lords pay to the rebels protect them from being attacked by the rebels? Or does it pay to have the rebels protect them from the government troops?

[Bill123]

Here is something I picked out of the report:

<<In fact, “Dateline NBC” discovered that much of the drug-growing region is now off limits to fumigation, including the FARC-controlled DMZ.
And more bad news — a recent United Nations report found far more land under cultivation with drug crops than Plan Colombia had anticipated. The net result, even if Plan Colombia met its most optimistic and ambitious goals, there could still be enough Colombian cocaine and heroin to meet the U.S. demand.>>


All in all, the whole effort is worthless and hopeless...

I say let them grow the stuff. The problem is with the U.S., not Colombia.

The so-called "Plan Colombia" is an outright kickbak to the American defense contractors. There is no possible way to win The War On Drugs. No chance whatsoever. Prohibition in this country was a total failure. Trying to stop global coca production will fail even worse than Prohibition. Coca can be grown anywhere coffee is grown. Even if all the coca in the entire country of Colombia was eradicated - which is a practical impossibilty - the international narcotics cartels can move their operations to any of the major coffee-producing nations of the world. I haven't checked commodity prices recently, but a few months ago coffee prices had fallen off a cliff.

This is a demand-side problem, not a supply-side problem. As long as people want to consume alcohol and drugs, they will be supplied with alcohol and drugs - legally or illegally. I would think that Prohibition made that abundantly clear.

Fighting communism is a war that can be won; fighting a war on drugs cannot be won. If we leave the narcotics traffickers alone - as we should - then they will have no need for the communist rebels, and the rebels will be cut loose. The problem is communism, not drugs. The communism problem will disappear if the businessmen behind Colombian coca are permitted to do what they are going to do anyway: produce coca.

There is no way to stop coca production worldwide. It's impossible. Stop wasting U.S. taxpayer money on an enormous kickback to the defense contractors.

Jeff

PS: "Protection money" in Colombia is exactly what "protection money" was during Prohibition in the U.S. - a shakedown by businessmen in one illegal organization in exchange for security from the violence of other organizations.

There is currently a movement underway by various politicians in Colombia who are running for President that advocate legalizing drugs. It should be an interesting election because polls show that the public at large has grown tired of the Guerillas and the Peace Process and want there Government to stop making concessions, and not one politician running for President supports the current process. Even the current President, Pastrana has now permitted the Military to take the offensive and attack Guerilla territory. Since this action by the President, the Army (With U.S. Special Forces training) has racked up some impressive victories. Morale is up, and in fact, the army now thinks that they can bring the Rebels to their knees within a few years. I guess my point is that I'm back and forth on the subject of drug legalization, but I support Plan Colombia in the sense that it's providing much needed training and funds to the Colombian Armed Forces and have made it possible to now take their country back from these terrorists. Just like in Central America in the 80's the only way to get the Guerillas to the bargaining table is kicking and screaming. All this would not be possible without the funds and traing from Plan Colombia. My opinion is that eradicating the Rebels and Communism will be the legacy left behind from Plan Colombia and not how many coca plants we killed.

[Bill123]

Plan Colombia is not being funded to take on and wipe out the rebels Frank. The money is being spent (mis-spent) to fumigate coca fields, provide incentives for the farmers to grow something else, etc. Only in areas where they run up against opposition do they fight. Funding an effort to wipe out the rebels would take billions and still probably be unsucessful.

And Jeff, the rebels are taxing the drug trade and will continue to do so. Right now, they get so much a ton for processed cocaine. They also get so much from the farmers for the paste. They also get such and such figure for protecting a shipment. They get another figure for securing an airfield.

Even if they stayed out of the drug trade and this is highly unlikely, they still have their other businesses, as well as a huge cash hoard, enough to buy some of the best weapons in the world.

Colombia is going to hell in a handbasket and only getting worse.

Frank,

The target of Plan Colombia is drugs, not communism.

Bill,

The guerillas aren't "taxing" the drug cartels; the drug cartels are willfully paying the guerillas for a valuable service. Businessmen in illegal businesses always have to shell out a lot of money for "hired guns." The bigger the business, the more hired guns are needed. Colombian coca is big business indeed.

The guerillas need the drug cartels much more than the drug cartels need the guerillas. The drug cartels have the money to hire "soldiers of fortune" wherever they want; the guerillas in Colombia are simply the most convenient choice for the time being.

However, if drugs were legalized in Colombia, then the drug cartels wouldn't need the guerillas. If drugs were legalized, then drugs become a legitimate enterprise. As a legitimate enterprise, it could be taxed - and would be taxed - by the Colombian government. The Colombian military would be protecting the cartels, and the guerillas would lose their primary source of income. Lots and lots of tax revenue would flow into the coffers of the Colombian government if drugs were legalized. That tax revenue would fund lots and lots of military weaponry to defeat the guerillas quite easily.

Jeff

[Jim]

Besides Plan Colombia enriching US defense contractors, lots of the money goes in the pockets of Colomboan politicians.

They get rich by fighting the drug war, not by winning it. Another reason why it won't work.

Jim

[Bill123]

Jeff,

It IS both a tax and a fee for services.

Even Raul Reyes himself, commander of the FARC, explained when asked how it all works:

"It is a duty collected to finance the revolutionary fight"

A recent Rand Report describes how FARC’s dope tax works. If you are a coca farmer you’re charged by the acre. If you’re a drug trafficker, you’re assessed per kilo of cocaine. There are also fees charged for services rendered. Just over $5,200 to protect a drug lab — the same amount to protect international drug flights and about $2,600 to protect your jungle landing strip. It adds up to many hundreds of millions each year.

It is a mutually synergistic relationship, but one where the drug traffickers could not operate without the rebels. No force the drug trade could hire could match the power of the rebels. In effect, the rebels are the dirty cops on the beat!