Another Success Story in the U.S. War on Drugs

This article speaks for itself.  It begins as follows:

Six years and $4 billion into the US-backed campaign to wipe out cocaine at its source, Colombia appears to be producing more coca than when the campaign started, according to US government estimates.

As Congress opens debate this month on another $640 million for next year for Washington's most ambitious overseas counternarcotics effort, a growing number of critics say the costly program has neither dented the cocaine trade nor driven down the number of American addicts. Two of the program's major missions -- to dramatically reduce coca growing in Colombia and provide alternative livelihoods for drug farmers -- have fallen far short of hoped-for goals.

Onetime supporters, including some Republican lawmakers who championed the plan at its creation, are now demanding to know why the most expensive US foreign aid program outside the Middle East and Afghanistan is not winning the war on drugs.

Comments

[Mike Huben]

Once again libertarians were right. I bow to your superior intellect and promise to end my ignorant rants on this page. Thank you.

[daksya]

Concrete numbers with pretty charts here.

[Mike Huben]

Rather obviously, that's not me above. Just some troll.

You don't need to be a libertarian to oppose the drug war. See:
Cocaine, Marijuana, and Heroin
The Consumers Union Report on Licit and Illicit Drugs, Chapter 69. Policy issues and recommendations.

The problem with the libertarian viewpoint is not the opposition to the drug war, but that their "solution" would be really undesirable because of extensive externalities.

[Chris]

What about the libertarian "solution" is undesirable?