War on drugs is big business
The Obama administration is unable to show that the billions of dollars spent in the war on drugs have significantly stemmed the flow of illegal narcotics into the United States, according to two government reports and outside experts. "We are wasting tax dollars and throwing money at a problem without even knowing what we are getting in return," said Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), who chairs the Senate subcommittee that wrote one of the reports. "I think we have wasted our money hugely," agreed Bruce Bagley, who studies US counter-narcotics efforts and chairs international studies at the University of Miami. "The effort has had corrosive effects on every country it has touched." The reports criticize the government's growing use of contractors, which were paid more than USD 3 billion to train local prosecutors and police, help eradicate fields of coca, operate surveillance equipment, and otherwise battle the widening drug trade in Latin America. The majority of US counter-narcotics contracts are awarded to five companies: DynCorp, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, ITT, and ARINC. DynCorp received the largest total, USD 1.1 billion. Among other jobs, the US contractors train local police and investigators, provide logistical support to intelligence collection centers, and fly airplanes and helicopters that spray herbicides to eradicate coca crops grown to produce cocaine.
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