|
|
| U.S. Issues Drug Report Card |
|
Posted by FoM on March 01, 2001 at 14:16:08 PT By George Gedda, Associated Press Writer Source: Associated Press 
The White House made public Thursday its annual ``report card'' on the drug-fighting performance of narcotics problem countries around the world and, as expected, gave high marks to Mexico and Colombia.Twenty-four countries were evaluated and all but four were ``certified'' as fully cooperating with U.S. counternarcotics efforts. The only changes from last year involved Paraguay and Nigeria, which were elevated from ``decertified'' to ``certified.'' The evaluation focuses on countries which are drug sources or serve as transit points for traffickers, or both. The White House decisions were announced in congressional testimony by Rand Beers, the State Department's top counternarcotics official. Countries that are decertified can be subject to economic penalties. Cambodia and Haiti were decertified but were not subjected to sanctions because of national security reasons. Their status remained unchanged from 2000. Consistent with last year's findings, Afghanistan and Myanmar, also known as Burma, were decertified without a national security waiver. But in both cases, the question of economic penalties does not apply because they are under U.S. sanctions for other reasons. In addition to Mexico, Colombia, Nigeria and Paraguay, the other certified countries were the Bahamas, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, India, Jamaica, Laos, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Thailand, Venezuela and Vietnam. Meanwhile, the State Department issued a report on the illicit drug situation that encompasses countries subject to the certification process and others as well. The report said there are ``unprecedented opportunities'' for U.S.-Mexican counterdrug cooperation but that success depends on Mexico's ability to combat institutional corruption. ``Corruption of the law enforcement sector by drug trafficking organizations remains a serious institutional problem,'' it said. On the plus side, the report said an aggressive eradication program coupled with drought in the principal drug cultivation areas of Mexico resulted in record low levels of opium poppy production. On Colombia, the world's largest producer of cocaine, the report said a U.S.-backed aerial eradication program was successful last year, treating some 47,000 hectares of coca and 9,000 hectares of opium poppy. A hectare is about 2.5 acres. The report added that the eradication program appeared to be having an impact, noting that coca cultivation growth rates have slowed substantially. Between 1997 and 1999, coca cultivation increased by 19 percent, 28 percent and 20 percent, respectively, but the increase was down to 11 percent last year, the report said. As for the certification process, Mexican President Vicente Fox has been an outspoken critic. ``Certification is more than an affront to Mexico and to other countries. It is a sham that should be denounced and canceled,'' Fox said last year. He wants an alternative process that would end the U.S. ``unilateral approach'' and substitute a cooperative process involving producers and consumers, the largest of which is the United States. Beers told a Senate panel Wednesday that Colombian coca production increased last year ahead of a U.S-funded crackdown, but the rise wasn't as sharp as in previous years. ``This estimate may - may - indicate that the explosion of coca that has ravaged Colombia recently is finally peaking,'' Beers said. President Bush has given Fox his blessing for Mexico's counterdrug policy. He said during a visit to Mexico on Feb. 16 that he planned to tell U.S. lawmakers that Fox ``will do everything in his power to root out the drug lords and to halt drug trafficking as best as he possibly can.'' Bush, hoping to please Fox, endorsed a move in Congress to set aside the certification process, but the lawmakers failed to act ahead of Thursday's deadline. Proponents hope to take action before the March 2002 deadline. Afghanistan was decertified for another year even though U.N. drug control officers reported two weeks ago that the ruling Taliban militia had virtually wiped out opium production since banning poppy cultivation in July. The State Department report acknowledged the Afghan effort but said that as of the end of 2000, it was too early to make an assessment of its effectiveness. Newshawk: NORML Media Related Articles: U.S. Bullies World Into Waging Futile Drug War Fox Called Eager To Tackle Border Issues CannabisNews Articles - Colombia Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
 |
| Comment #6 posted by Rambler on May 16, 2001 at 11:16:26 PT |
| The same government that has the raw arrogance to issue "report cards",and give passing marks to countries that murder people suspected of drug activity,is the same country that is shocked and offended when excluded from the UN human rights board. The imperial,"Uber Alles" demeanor and attitude of the US Drug War hawks is becoming really spooky. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #5 posted by Ben Dover Jr. on May 16, 2001 at 08:24:05 PT |
| I thought that I had it bad because of my name (Bend Over Junior). But now I know that there are worse things going on in the world... This REALLY disappoints me. [ Post Comment ] |
|
Comment #4 posted by Heather on May 16, 2001 at 08:21:52 PT:
|
| I think that this is horrible. That this is going on in the world discusts me, and I hope that this stops SOON!!!! I know that it will just keep getting worse and I know that we have to STOP this.... [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #3 posted by MikeEEEEE on March 01, 2001 at 19:02:26 PT |
| An F for failed policy. [ Post Comment ] |
|
Comment #2 posted by aocp on March 01, 2001 at 18:12:46 PT:
|
| ...i think i'm going to be sick. Excuse me... [ Post Comment ] |
|
Comment #1 posted by Dan B on March 01, 2001 at 16:58:02 PT:
|
| (NOTE: These first couple of paragraphs are satire and should be read as such) Yessir, that's the gool ol' Taliban government for you! How wonderful it is that they managed to cease production of opium in just one year! And all they had to do was kill growers' families while they watched, dismember the growers, and threaten the farmers who did grow opium poppies with the same kind of "treatment." Why wait, America? Let's start these policies right now! Let's see now . . . we can begin by killing all the non-violent prisoners of the drug war--they'll be easiest because they're already locked up. And . . . let's see here . . . about one in three Americans have tried an illegal substance, so why not just kill every third person. That should keep the other 2/3 in line, right? I am so sick of these UN bastards praising the Taliban government because "the ruling Taliban militia had virtually wiped out opium production since banning poppy cultivation in July." The Taliban government is made up of murderous, raping, thieving, lying, hypocritical a$$#oles who make Hitler look like a Ken doll. We should be assassinating them (hey, Bush paved the way), not praising them for killing their own citizens. I hope the Muslim community knows that I am not bashing the Prophet, nor am I bashing Islam. I am bashing a corrupt government that abuses the Quran and Islam as a whole by misinterpreting the religion and its sacred text, then enacting the worst human rights violations in the world because of their misinterpretations. I recognize that the true Islamic faith is far different, far more accepting than that represented by the minority Taliban government in Afghanistan. Here's another tidbit to chew on: The report added that the eradication program appeared to be having an impact, noting that coca cultivation growth rates have slowed substantially. Between 1997 and 1999, coca cultivation increased by 19 percent, 28 percent and 20 percent, respectively, but the increase was down to 11 percent last year, the report said. (emphasis mine) Notice that the production has not decreased in the past year, touted as the most "successful" year on record for cocaine eradication, but increased by eleven percent! And they're saying that we should send more money down this rat hole? Americans, wake up! Our own corrupt government is destroying the world one country at a time. Dan B [ Post Comment ] |
| Post Comment |  |
 |  |