U.S. can't justify its drug war spending, reports say

[Judi Lynn]

U.S. can't justify its drug war spending, reports say
Government reports say the Obama administration is unable to show that billions of dollars spent in the anti-drug efforts in Latin America have made a significant difference.
By Brian Bennett, Los Angeles Times

June 9, 2011
Reporting from Washington— As drug cartels wreak murderous havoc from Mexico to Panama, the Obama administration is unable to show that the billions of dollars spent in the war on drugs have significantly stemmed the flow of illegal narcotics into the United States, according to two government reports and outside experts.

The reports specifically criticize the government's growing use of U.S. contractors, which were paid more than $3 billion to train local prosecutors and police, help eradicate fields of coca, operate surveillance equipment and otherwise battle the widening drug trade in Latin America over the last five years.

"We are wasting tax dollars and throwing money at a problem without even knowing what we are getting in return," said Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), who chairs the Senate subcommittee that wrote one of the reports, which was released Wednesday.

"I think we have wasted our money hugely," agreed Bruce Bagley, who studies U.S. counter-narcotics efforts and chairs international studies at the University of Miami at Coral Gables, Fla. "The effort has had corrosive effects on every country it has touched."

More:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-narco-contract-20110609,0,1742011.story

Editorials:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x607116

[naaman fletcher]

1. Of course Obama will ignore this.

What's sad is the GOP has two presidential candidates that get it (Johnson and Paul). Our own party is worse than the GOP on what I think is the most critical issue we face.