Colombia is the current focus of the drug war. Hundreds of millions of US dollars are going to the Colombian military and police. Growing evidence suggests that this aid is an excuse for US involvement in Colombia s civil war.
Military aid is likely to increase already-widespread human rights violations in Colombia.
Other types of aid, for drug treatment and crop substitution programs, would be more effective. No one denies that drugs are a problem in US society. The last decade coinciding with the end of the Cold War has seen a marked increase in the military s role in the drug war. A provision of the 1991 defense bill allows the Pentagon to use its own funds to train foreign militaries and police, as well as transfer some equipment, for counternarcotics purposes. Under this law Congress does not have to be notified how much aid another country gets in the name of the drug war.