cannabisnews.com: GOP: Clinton Drug Plan in Trouble





GOP: Clinton Drug Plan in Trouble
Posted by FoM on March 01, 2000 at 06:20:57 PT
By The Associated Press
Source: New York Times
President Clinton's $1.6 billion proposal to fight drug traffickers in Colombia is unlikely to pass in the House because the plan ignores the American demand for cocaine and risks involving the United States in a Vietnam-like, open-ended entanglement, a leading Republican says. ``Let me tell you, the program is in trouble today,'' Rep. Sonny Callahan, R-Ala., told administration officials defending the Clinton plan Tuesday before a House subcommittee. 
Callahan, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee subcommittee that controls foreign aid, said that if the package were voted on today, ``It wouldn't pass the House.'' Colombia's coca growers, who have made their country the world's leading cocaine producer, are protected by 25,000 well-armed leftist guerrillas and right-wing paramilitary units. Battles between them and government forces have cost 35,000 lives over the past decade. So far, despite support by House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., Clinton's plan has run into significant skepticism in Congress. The proposal is part of a $5.2 billion spending request Clinton has made for the current fiscal year which also includes funds for U.S. operations in the Balkans and aid to victims of Hurricane Floyd and other domestic disasters. Gen. Barry McCaffrey, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, said Clinton's drug-fighting proposal ``tries to achieve a U.S. national purpose'' of reducing the drug flow into the United States. And he predicted it would succeed -- after a while. ``We have to think of it as a five-year effort,'' McCaffrey told members of the subcommittee. By then, he said he believed there would be ``substantial reductions of drug production.'' McCaffrey also argued that the proposal is just one part of federal anti-drug efforts that will total about $19 billion next year. Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, the subcommittee's ranking Democrat, said she opposed the plan and warned that its approval would mean ``a 5- to 10-year commitment which will cost U.S. taxpayers in excess of $5 billion.'' The $1.6 billion Clinton wants, to be spent this year and next, would be used to provide Colombia with 63 helicopters and for training, intelligence assistance and other aid to the country's military. It also includes money to entice Colombian coca farmers to produce other crops and to buttress the country's judicial system. With some lawmakers warning that the proposal could result in American troops being killed, McCaffrey said only Colombian forces would carry out military operations. Currently, there are up to 200 American military personnel in Colombia, a number that varies daily, McCaffrey said. ``There is no thinking at all, zero, for U.S. military intervention in Colombia,'' he said. About 90 percent of the cocaine used in the United States is grown in Colombia or flows through the country, McCaffrey said. And while coca production in Peru and Bolivia has dropped in recent years, it has grown in Colombia from 230 metric tons in 1995 to 520 last year, he said. Washington (AP) Published: March 1, 2000Copyright 2000 The New York Times Company Related Articles:Colombia Aid Package in Troublehttp://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread4919.shtmlUS: Colombia Drug War To Take 5 Yrshttp://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread4914.shtmlU.S. Led Fumigation Fails To Stop Cultivation http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread4895.shtmlColombia Anti-Drug Plan Draws Hill Firehttp://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread4733.shtml 
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Comment #2 posted by military officer guy on March 01, 2000 at 19:19:32 PT
congress is thinking..
with people like us getting the word out, at least congress is thinking that this is a bad idea...i'm loving it...
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Comment #1 posted by kaptinemo on March 01, 2000 at 06:50:08 PT
And what are they doing there?
With some lawmakers warning that the proposal could result in American troops being killed, McCaffrey said only Colombian forces would carry out military operations. Currently, there are up to 200 American military personnel in Colombia, a number that varies daily, McCaffrey said. ``There is no thinking at all, zero, for U.S. military intervention in Colombia,'' he said. Uh, excuse me, general sir, but don't US Special Forces troops on the ground, teaching and leading indig military patrols in drug interdiction raids against FARC guerillas constitute a form of military intervention? When did black become white?If you really want to get an idea of what we are actually up to in Central and South America, and where this is all leading, I strongly suggest that you rent the movie SNIPER.Sure, it's Hollywood, but it's the closest thing you'll get to the dynamics of black ops down there.
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