Putting aside for the moment my absolute loathing for the man, I think Clinton may have at least begun the creation of his legacy–another Vietnam in Colombia.
Sure, sure, he claims that isn’t the case. He claims that we will not get involved in a shooting war there. Even assuming (and a big assumption it is, too) that he means what he says, and that his intentions are good (an even bigger assumption), I think he’s fooling himself.
Vietnam started this way. Those who ignore history…
More importantly, though, governments–our federal government is particular–have a hell of a time admitting defeat, no matter how obvious it is that they have been, in fact, defeated. The Drug War ™ has been raging for more than thirty years, with no appreciable success [in the sense of ending drug use, not in the sense of building political and LEO careers and expanding government power, that is]. Has the government thrown in the towel? Hell no. More money, more prisons, more troops, and more draconian and unconstitutional authority will work…THIS TIME FOR SURE!
Can Clinton really believe that this stage of the war will be any different? If, after several years, of spending truckloads of cash and putting our national pride on the line, when the drugs keep flowing like a river is the federal government going to throw up its collective hands and say, “I guess it didn’t work. Too bad.”?
Hell, no. They’ll escalate. More money. More advisors. Maybe some military advisors. Maybe a little “assistance” to the overmatched Colombian government. Just a few troops, you know, to free up Colombian troops for the front. Yeah. That’s it.
Given the way the constitution has been shredded HERE in the name of fighting drug use, who can realistically believe we won’t dig ourselves an even deeper hole in another country infested (in the minds of the Drug Warriors) with sub-human scum who are poisoning our precious childrens’ bodily fluids with their poison?