|
- - A Sub
Greater Than Its Parts - -
There are two distinct, mutually exclusive reactions one can have to the news that Colombian drug runners were building a 100-foot-long submarine capable of shipping 200 tons of cocaine to America. To the drug warriors it is proof positive that their actions are turning up the heat on the narcos. Why else would the smugglers take such extraordinary steps to slip the anti-drug gauntlet that rings the US? Keep the pressure up and the coke supply line will dry up. The alternative view is that a sub being built 7,500 feet up in the Andes is a clear sign that the Drug War cannot be won. The resources required to even attempt such a thing are immense. But the truly rare thing is the will needed to attempt the task. The will in turn, is a product of the huge reward that would flow from success. There is nothing the drug warriors can do to diminish the reward that awaits the person who is able to reliably bring 200 tons of coke to the US. In fact, to the extent the interdiction of other shipments are successful the value of the sub cargo only increases. Recent history suggests, however, that right now planners somewhere in Washington are sketching out what it would take to station US Navy subs, ones that once tracked Soviet missile boats, along the Colombian coastline. Onward, victory. |
