Shooting Down Drug Runners

For John, BLUF:  Do we need to be consistent regarding illegal drugs?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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From the web magazine War on the Rocks we have "Narcotrafficking, the Shining Path, and the Strategic Importance of Peru", by Dr. R. Evan Ellis is Research Professor with the Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College.

Here is the beginning:

In April 2001, the U.S. pushed the Peruvian government to suspend its aerial interdiction program against suspected drug flights after the Peruvian Air Force mistakenly fired on a flight killing a U.S. missionary and her seven-month old daughter. Peru is now on the verge of resuming its interdiction program, and it might not be a bad idea.

On March 9, the National Defense Committee of the Peruvian Congress approved legislation authorizing the nation’s armed forces to interdict aircraft transiting its airspace without authorization. The proposed law, promoted by Peruvian congressman and retired Admiral Carlos Tubino, is a response to the increasing number of “narco flights” (now 6-10 per day) carrying cocaine and associated intermediate products from the Apurimac, Ene and Mantaro river valley region (the “VRAEM”), to neighboring Bolivia and Brazil.

And yet we are legalizing Mary Jane?

Regards  —  Cliff