McCaffrey has since 1996 occasionally criticized the war terminology. But President Clinton did not select the general because he is a great humanitarian. McCaffrey was selected as drug czar to provide the Clinton Administration cover during the 1996 election and McCzar served that end as Clinton s beard. Although wars are expected to end, drug education like all schooling is a continuous process. The thoroughly modern general promotes education and prevention now in the context of the complete failure of the war on drugs.
Narcotics are cheaper, and universally available.
The only success McCaffrey can claim for his tenure is an escalation of propaganda. The weirdness comes from the simultaneous bashing of John Ashcroft, George Bush s selection for appointment to the post of Attorney General. No one is surprised that nominee John Ashcroft is a hard-liner. How he and George W. Bush react to the political assault which will follow the nomination will be a major story of the Bush presidency. The surprise derives from McCaffrey.