Rice: Coca Eradication Program Is Effective

[Rose Siding]

BOGOTA, Colombia -- Although results from a massive coca eradication program have been disappointing, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Wednesday night the overall U.S. assistance policy is working and should not be abandoned.

"You don't stop in midstream on something that has been very effective," Rice told a news conference. "It took a long time to get this program started and it's going to take a little while to eliminate the problem."
...
After two years of encouraging results, data released last month showed that the total area under coca cultivation -- 281,000 acres -- remained essentially the same in 2004 compared with 2003 in spite of a massive spraying campaign. Critics suggested the spraying campaign wasn't getting the job done.

Rice, perhaps focusing on the positive three-year trend, said, "I don't think it is time to abandon a strategy that is both diminishing the crop here and a strategy that is restoring the democratic security of Colombia."

http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-rice-latin-america,0,1086932.story?coll=sns-ap-politics-headlines

[warrens]

1. Yeah, it is impossible to find an ounce of coke around here

For less than $500, that is.

On edit, tough to find any smack too. It's only 90 percent pure and selling for $100 a gram or so. Yeah, the war on drugs is going GREAT. What a bunch of shitheads.

[xultar]

2. Well, that is if you eradicate one plant @ a time...

:hide:

[firefox]

3. I don't accept the fantasy you fascist whore

And by the way, the CIA is the biggest drug dealer in the world.

[pnorman]

4. "Mission Accomplished", Condi?

pnorman

[GoBlue]

5. Rice try Condi...

Police crop-dusters destroyed record amounts of drug crops last year. But according to a report by the White House Office of Drug Control Policy, 281,694 acres of coca remained in Colombia in 2004 — up slightly from the 281,323 acres in 2003. What's more, Colombian cocaine remains cheap and plentiful on U.S. streets.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/world/3157739

But of course, Condi's made a career of going nowhere fast and she's making real progress.

[ima_sinnic]

6. cocaine is one of the BFEE's most profitable enterprises

...and "eradication" efforts give them the excuse to meddle into other countries' business and dictate the terms of trade agreements, foreign aid, etc.

FUCK YOU YOU STINKING WHORE!!

[Solly Mack]

7. even though the results have been disappointing, it's still effective

Alrighty then...

ho hum...

[bemildred]

8. Right, almost like "it's not working, but it's working", but

that would be a bit too obviously stupid to say.

[sendero]

9. The most it could ever be "effective" at..

... is raising the price of coke. Simple economics.

[michaelwb]

10. Coca Eradication Program Is Effective...

Well if the Prez is snorting it faster than they produce it I guess you could call that an "eradication program."

[leesa]

11. Absolutely...the Super Round-up that Monsanto sprays on Columbia's

crops have destroyed thousands of regular farms and have sent the families to the barrios to try to survive eating garbage. Good job, Condie! And it only cost us 4 billion or so over the last 5 years to maintain the chaos and massive poverty!