Page 2/The Battalion/Friday, July 25, 1985
The real victim of drug wars
If at first you
don’t succeed,
learn nothing
from the experi
ence and do the
whole thing again
— in a bigger way,
if possible. This
seems to be the ad
ministration’s rub
ber stamp when it
comes to handling
there too much coastline to patrol, but
dope smugglers are not dopes. When
Florida got hot, they moved to Loui
siana and Texas, corrupting local law-
enforcement authorities along the way.
They can always keep going. They have
going for them an almost-endless coast
line and an insatiable market. No mat
ter. On to Bolivia.
opinion. The death of Maryland basket
ball star Len Bias and the resulting pub
licity about widespread drug abuse has
put this vocally anti-drug administration
on the spot. Do something, it is urged.
Richard
Cohen
the drug crisis. Having found itself un
able to staunch the flow of drugs into
the United States, it now thinks it can do
it at the source. The cavalry’s been sent
to Bolivia.
Naturally, word of the top-secret in
formation surfaced in the Bolivian press
and reluctantly was confirmed by the
U.S. Embassy in La Paz: “U.S. helicopt
ers and U.S. personnel have been sent
to Bolivia at the request of the Bolivian
government to provide transportation
support to Bolivian civil authorities.”
The helicopters are reported to number
six, the personnel about 140 and the
chances of their success about nil.
But the South American nation is
Florida in spades. If the administration
thought it saw official corruption in the
United States then, to paraphrase the
late A1 Jolson, it “ain’t seen nothing yet.”
Already, the first joint operation was
tipped to the press. A previous opera
tion, launched by the Bolivians in 1984,
was tipped to the traffickers. A strike
into the Chapare region, where about
one quarter of the world’s coca (from
which cocaine is made) is grown, came
up empty-handed. Bolivia tried another
raid, with the same results. As Kurt
Vonnegut would say, “and so it goes.”
And so it has. But in doing so, it has
introduced American troops into a fo-
riegn country where, by proxy or other
wise, they will make war against the local
people. Some of them, for sure, will be
drug dealers. But, inescapably, some
will not. Even in the United States, inno
cent people get arrested and, some
times, killedin drug raids. If you don’t
think the same thing will happen in Bo
livia you must believe that that country
is more efficient than our own.
The field marshal of Operation Dope
is Vice President George Bush. He is the
same George Bush who is in nominal
charge of the government task force
that is supposed to interdict drugs on
their way to Florida. The success of that
operation is evident on the streets of
America: We are experiencing an epi
demic of cocaine abuse.
In fact, it goes the same way in this
country. There are regions here—
northern California, for example —
where marijuana was grown illegally for
years. In some regions, it still is and it
takes only the most determined govern
ment effort to put the growers out of
business. If that is the case here, con
sider the odds of achieving success in
Bolivia. For many peasants, coca is their
cash crop and in some regions, the pro
duction of cocaine is the chief industry.
Moreover, the president has
obscured the line between military and
civilian authority. Law enforcement in
this country is a civilian concern. That is
the way we like it — the way our laws
and traditions would have it. Now,
though, the president is using the mili
tary as a posse — to chase drug traffick
ers in distant Bolivia. An administration
that is quick to respond militarily to
crises that should be handled otherwise
has crashed through a significant bar
rier.
The lessons of the Florida operation
have been lost on the Reagan adminis
tration. Of course, more and more co
caine is coming into the country — up
by over 100 tons since 1980. Not only is
There is more than a good chance
that the administration’s Bolivian Bust is
doomed for failure. But the real target
of operation appears not to be the Boliv
ian drug industry, but American public
It could be argued that the adminis
tration has taken an acceptable risk if, in
the end, Bolivian cocaine was erad
icated. But the chances of that are slim;
dealers and growers simply will move
their operation. Meanwhile, American
troops are where they do not belong,
fighting a war in Bolivia that cannot
even be won at home. Usually, it is truth
that is war’s first casualty. In the war on
drugs, it appears to be common sense.
Copyright 1986, Washington Post Writers Group
SEX EDUCATION:
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You Yo ’m
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Mail Call
Cure by raids and enlightenment
EDITOR:
While I agree with Mark Ude’s recent assessment that the drug culture i
firmly entrenched economically in South America, I take issue with his
pronouncement that “The only avenue for success (in combating the drug
problem) lies with ... eradicating the present level of drug use in this couni:
(i.e. the United States).”
True enough, a few raids into Bolivia will not thwart an entire industn
no more than a single attack on Libya will eradicate terrorism. Any success
toward this issue will be the product of a policy which attacks the war on
several fronts, including raids at the source as well as enlightment at the ter
Glenn Streiff
Bolivian clarifications
EDITOR: M “
We would like to make a correction to the column “Bolivian drug raidsrj
cure for U.S. addiction,” written by Mark Ude and appearing in Yhe
Battalion on Wednesday.
Being Bolivians, it is not easy for us to be associated with the cocaine
problem. Nevertheless, we found the column courageous and objective.
However his sources of information are incorrect. The column statestk
there are 6.5 million drug-related jobs in Bolivia, while —according to recein|
reports — the entire population barely reaches 6 million. This obviously
demonstrates the invalidity of his statement.
Carlos Miranda
Vice President, Bolivian Student Association
Manfred Ledermann, Secretary
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The other viewpoint
EDITOR:
I just read Karl Pallmeyer’s article in Thursday’s Battalion. I have read
several other articles of his and noticed that he consistently has a narrow,
one-sided point of view. He reminds me of a person who goes to a party wilt I
the attitude that he’s not going to have any fun. He would stand aroundb\
himself and complain about everything he can think up, instead of enjoying
the good times around him.
I agree that all aspects of people’s opinions should be made known totk I
public, but Pallmeyer is abusing his position on The Battalion staff by
consistently airing his one-sided views.
Besides all that, he is short, fat and he dresses like a dork.
John C. Martin ’86
The worth of archery
EDITOR:
As one of the three basic discoveries that led mankind out of the caves and
into civilization — archery — which was once a livelihood, has grown intoan
ultra-modern sport. And it is that sport that the Texas A&M Archery Team
strives to master.
The most recent tournament the team participated in was held July 12
seems a shame that there was no school support to accompany the
participating members. Does The Battalion not feel archery as worthy as
football, baseball or basketball?
To become an accomplished archer, one must be willing to devotea
considerable amount of his mental and physical energy, not to mention time
and money. Archery asks as much of its “players” as does any other sport.
Why should it not be recognized? Is it not a school sponsored activity?
When one of the members was asked why he was willing to give so much
of himself to the sport, he replied “.. . for the glory.” What “glory” does this
man have to look forward to?
The team members pay their own tournament expenses and are expected
to! There is no “glory” in that. If these people are willing to give 101 percent
of themselves to their school, should we not be willing to give them our
support in as many ways as possible?
K. Freeman
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EDI TOR ’S NOTE: Yes, archery and the other sports clubs deserve our sup
port. Unfortunately, these sports take a back seat to the “more popular”nr
sity sports during the school year, and The Battalion sports department hx
been understaffed to adequately cover the sports clubs. However, we areal
tempting to correct the problem and provide coverage on these less knonv-
but deserving of recognition — sports.
Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words in length. The editorial staff reserves the rijlii
to edit letters for style and length, but will make every effort to maintain the author's interi
Each letter must be signed and must include the address and telephone number of the writer.
Sex education programs lack quality information
What would
you say if I told
you about this new
revolutionary high
school drug pro
gram where stu-
Mike
Foarde
Guest Columnist
going to use drugs anyway, so the school
is just going to tell them how to do it.”
dents are taught how to use drugs. The
philosophy behind it is that “kids are
The Battalion
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Member of
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Southwest Journalism Conference
The Battalion Editorial Board
Michelle Powe, Editor
Kay Mallett, Managing Editor
Loren Steffy, Opinion Page Editor
Scott Sutherland, City Editor
Ken Sury, Sports Editor
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The Battalion also serves as a la bora to rv newspaper for
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ion. 216 Reed McDonald, fexas A&'M L niversitv. College
Station 'TX 77343.
The school starts by having seminars
on how to freebase cocaine and where to
get “crack” at the lowest prices. Then it
will have courses that show the finer
points of gardening your own mari
juana plants and producing heroine in
your own laboratory. Phase three of the
new plan calls for in-school clinics where
students will be able, without the par
ent’s consent, to obtain hypodermic nee
dles, water pipes and snorting straws to
avoid getting any of the dirty “street”
variety. Furthermore, these new drug
education programs will be going into
effect all over the country starting with
your own hometown high school.
tion programs is not the quantity of edu
cation, but rather the quality of informa
tion that is being taught to our youth.
thy” practice, even deviant sexual habits
such as homosexuality and bestiality are
passed off as “normal alternate lifesty
les.”
Author and counselor Dr. Tim La-
Haye writes in his book The Act of Mar
riage that in reality it takes about six
hours for him to discuss with a couple
about to get married everything they
need to know about sex. The rest they
can have the pleasure to discover on
their own, by doing.
Who could conceive such an idiotic
and, thankfully, fictitious plan? Who?
The same people who are right now de
vising the sex education programs in
high schools all across the nation.
In spite of this, junior and high
school curricula are being designed with
semesters of courses about the subject of
human sexuality. More and more these
courses cover the whole gamut of to
day’s sexual options, including various
techniques. This is certainly excessive,
especially in the case of high school
teen-agers. The biology of human sex
uality can be covered more than adequa
tely for the high school level in about
one week of regular class time.
This is what is dangerous. To teach
kids about sex without giving them a
standard to govern their behavior is like
showing them how to use guns and
hand grenades, but not telling them
how and when to use them. It is easy to
see how this is crazy using our fictitious
drug example, yet some schools have
started their own sex clinics, making
contraceptives and other sexual devices
available to kids at school. Even Secre
tary of Education William J. Bennett
agrees that this teaches children that
according to adults, promiscuity is OK
as long as you are responsible (i.e. don’t
get pregnant).
“Education,” proponents of these
programs say, “is the key to awareness
about sex, and therefore, responsible
choices on behalf of the kids today.” As
an education major, I can appreciate
that education is important for people
to make the right decision, but the ques
tion lies in what kind and how much ed
ucation is needed.
The second major flaw of these exces
sive sex education programs is what
they teach. Sexual behavior is being
taught to high school students many
times without regard to traditional
moral standards, or even worse, with a
completely new immoral standard.
This is the worst fallacy of them all.
Pregnancy is only one of many tragic
outcomes of teen-age promiscuity. The
sex education supporters point to a few
mildly successful programs where they
actually were able to reduce the amount
of teen-age pregnancies and delay the
average first sexual encounter.
The problem with today’s sex educa-
Many of these programs teach that
pre- and extra marital sex is all right,
masturbation is encouraged as a “heal-
These results are at best encouraging,
but they tend to ignore the overwhelm
ing statistics. Namely that in spite of
massive education programs teen-age
pregnancies are up about 125 percent
from 15 years ago, and this doesn’t take
into account the tens of thousands
abortions. The cases of teen-age m j
real disease are soaring, not to menu
the tremendous emotional and spirt
damage a sexual relationship canm
a young person.
Teen psychiatrists also report:
teen-age population is suffering fre
an extremely guilty conscience stc
ming from, among other things,tij
extreme sexual involvement. Thishel
explain the 16,000 teen-age suicide
tempts daily. Naturally, this happens!
cause teens are in an emotional:
physical pressure cooker that they*
not designed or equipped to haul
Obviously, this “anything goes” philj
phy of teaching teen-agers about sev
failing bitterly.
Sex education primarily should
the responsibility of the parents, d%
the church and finally, if at all, 1
school. Children should be taughti:
the sexual revolution is over. \Vel°l
And wouldn’t it be really radical;
revolutionary if after the teen-aj?
were taught basic biology, they
taught that sex is a beautiful experie 1
that God designed to be enjoyed in
context of marriage? Any other op 11
has and always will lead to eventual
saster.
$
$
Mike Foarde is a senior education
jor and president of the A&M chap
of Americans for a Biblical Gow
ment.