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06/05/2004:
"'Communism', 'Terrorism' the same paper tiger 20 years removed"
The Pentagon Looks Southnew york times
Published: June 5, 2004
"Now that Latin America is on the back burner as far as American diplomacy is concerned, hemispheric relations are once again increasingly driven by America's military. This isn't healthy. History shows that when military-to-military ties dominate the relationship, as they did for much of the cold war, generals in Latin America feel empowered to act in any way they want so long as they guarantee a semblance of stability.
American military leaders, unfortunately, are once again suggesting that their Latin American counterparts assume a more active role in their nations, especially in ensuring domestic security. This time the ill-advised idea stems not from a concern about communism, but terrorism. A return to outright military dictatorships is unlikely, but expanding the military's role in these nations will only diminish their fledgling democracies.
The terrorism concern is overstated. Gen. James Hill, chief of the United States Southern Command, recently told senators, "Terrorists throughout the Southern Command area of responsibility bomb, murder, kidnap, traffic drugs, transfer arms, launder money and smuggle humans." That does describe the situation in Colombia and, to some degree, Peru. But terrorism is hardly a threat to the entire continent, and there are no known Islamic terror groups active in Latin America.
Pentagon officials also seem to think that Latin American armies might play a greater role in fighting criminal gangs. Gangs are a huge problem, but Washington should resist militarizing campaigns against crime. There are good reasons President Bush doesn't unleash the marines on Los Angeles gangs, and those same reasons apply in Latin America. To fight crime, these nations need money, expertise and training to strengthen their police and courts. This training should be done by civilians.
Hemispheric contacts other than military ones need to be emphasized. No matter how preoccupied they are with Iraq, the White House and the State Department cannot brush Latin America aside".
Well it's not as if the State Department is going to be anyone's savior either.
