Date: Mon, 11 Feb 2002 12:27:50 EST From: freemanaz@aol.com Subject: [azpeace] Cato Foreign Policy Pieces To: azpeace@yahoogroups.com Reply-To: azpeace@yahoogroups.com
PUTIN TO U.S.: DON'T ATTACK IRAQ
The Associated Press reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin warned against U.S. military action against Iraq, saying that the situation in the Persian Gulf nation was different from Afghanistan and that only the U.N. Security Council could sanction any attack. ( http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020211/ap_on_re_eu/russia_
putin_1&cid=514 )
In an interview published today in The Wall Street Journal, Putin called his nation's partnership with the United States the key to stability in the world. The two powers have reached a "new level of trust," he was quoted as saying.
"This trust allows us, despite any differences or arguments on specific issues, to avoid confrontation," Putin said.
In "U.S. Should Refrain from Attacking Iraq," ( http://www.cato.org/dailys/12-13-01.html ) Cato Chairman William Niskanen outlines why the U.S. should not attack Iraq "unless it presents evidence, at least credible enough for Tony Blair, that Saddam helped finance, organize, or implement the Sept. 11 attacks or that he has supplied weapons of mass destruction to a terrorist group." Last month, Niskanen debated former CIA Director James Woolsey on the issue. Video of the forum "Should the United States Go To War against Iraq?" ( http://www.cato.org/events/011213pf.html ) is available online.
U.S. MILITARY AID FOR COLOMBIAN PIPELINE, DRUG WAR
The United States, which has concentrated military aid to Colombia on the anti-drug struggle but will now help defend an oil pipeline, could upgrade its assistance to the country's war effort, according to Reuters. ( http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20020210/pl/colombia_usa_dc_2.html )
In Colombia's El Tiempo newspaper yesterday, Ambassador Anne Patterson said decisions on future U.S. military aid would hinge on the success of a new initiative to train and equip a Colombian army brigade to protect the pipeline.
Asked whether the plan to spend $98 million helping Colombian troops prevent leftist rebel attacks on the much-bombed Cano Limon duct could be followed by other aid to protect infrastructure, Patterson replied: "Yes. But we are going to see how this project goes with the Cano Limon."
In "Declaring an Armistice in the International Drug War," ( http://www.cato.org/pubs/fpbriefs/fpb-026es.html ) Vice President for Defense and Foreign Policy Studies Ted Galen Carpenter demanded an armistice to the failed international drug war that has hurt all sides of the conflict. In "Time to End the Drug War," ( http://www.cato.org/dailys/12-03-97.html ) Financial Services Analyst Jacobo Rodriguez explains that "efforts to eradicate crops and interdiction of traffic -- that is, efforts to reduce the supply f drugs -- put only a small dent in the profit margins of traffickers."
Last year, the Cato Institute hosted "Plan Colombia: Should We Escalate the War on Drugs?" ( http://www.cato.org/events/010313pf.html ) featuring Prof. Russell Crandall of Davidson College and Amb. James F. Mack of the State Department's Bureau of International Narcotics & Law Enforcement Affairs. The forum can be viewed online.
Jerry Brito, editor, jbrito@cato.org
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