Since 1994, the United States has spent billions to spray millions of gallons of poisonous chemicals, destroying the fragile ecosystem of jungle rainforests. But coca production has surged.
Fumigation pushes the growers somewhere else.
It also does a fine job recruiting for the guerrillas. Colombia's army and police are already the world's third-largest recipient of U.S. assistance after Israel and Egypt. No Latin country has ever received anything comparable to this new package. But this is an election year in Washington. Together, these battalions constitute the equivalent of a new, American-created brigade.