Doug Kanter wrote:

"Dave Hall" wrote in message
...


3) News you're not aware of: Drug lords in Colombia force small farmers
to
plant coca mixed in with food crops.

Sounds like a problem that the Columbian government should stop. If of
course, they're really not a silent party to it.

The drug lords kill anyone they want, including judges, military officers,
journalists. The government cannot stop it.

Then who is really in charge? Why should thugs be allowed to get away
with the things that they do? It's the same thing as what is going on in
the middle east. Why should thugs be allowed to hold the civilized world
hostage to their demands, while operating above the law, and with little
regard for their fellow humans? All the while, those who would seek to
end this sort of rogue tyrrany are prevented from doing so by
humanitarian restraint.



The government spots the coca plants
from the air and drops herbicides on them. People are reporting lots of
health problems which are known to the companies which make these
herbicides. The companies are not claiming the stuff is safe on food
crops.
It's the type of stuff highway crews sometimes use to control weeds.
It's
not meant to be used anywhere near food crops.

So the problem becomes one of if you want good food, don't plant illegal
drug crops. Stop doing that and the problem goes away.

Do I need to explain everything to you? If they refuse to plant, they're
murdered, or they "go away on trips" on never come home. Which newspaper
did you say you read regularly, from front to back?

I know that. The point is, and the one you are trying to make here is
that the druggies threaten the farmers. The government poisons the
crops. So rather than put the blame on the drug lords for causing the
problem in the first place, you cite their seeming invincibility as a
justification for the government to just allow them to grow illegal
crops, and to show compassion for the farmers by not attempting to
enforce the law

You do know what message that would send don't you?



4) The farmers aren't like you and I. They don't have a Safeway or Giant
supermarket 3 blocks away. If you contaminate their crops, they may
still
have no choice but to eat it. This issue, the health issue, has nothing
to
do with anyone's opinion of drug laws.

Sure it does. As long as these drug lords are allowed to run roughshot
over the farmers, then they are ultimately to blame for the decline of
the health of their fellow countrymen.

That's roughshoD. And, the druglords do anything they want because they're
better equipped than the Colombian military. We continue giving money to the
military, but it seems to vanish.

Gee, maybe GWB should send in the next group of troops there huh?



I would organize a revolt.....

...and you'd end up tied to the wall of a hut in the jungle, until your
captors decided to either kill you or cut you loose. They kill most of their
captives.

Who would plant the crops if all the farmers are dead?


Here's a crazy thought, although you'll never follow through because you're
a unpatriotic little pussy:

How do you know how patriotic I am? I support our effort to erradicate
terrorism, and I'm not critical of our leaders' intentions for petty
reasons when a united front is necessary to achieve this goal. So what's
your excuse?


Write to your representatives and tell them 30
years is long enough to see that a program doesn't work. No more money for
Colombia.

I don't agree. We need to form a combined task force to sweep in and
burn the druggies out.

Dave