Another Successful War

Unlike Defense spending, this is money that we really can say 'could go to helping [insert your favorite domestic cause here].'


A.P.:

U.N.: 'Shock' rise in Colombia coca growth
Cultivation of cocaine plant up 27 percent despite U.S.-funded eradication

BOGOTA, Colombia - Colombia's coca crop — the basis for cocaine — grew by 27 percent last year, the United Nations reported Wednesday, calling the increase "a surprise and a shock" given major U.S.-funded eradication efforts.

Eradication of the crop in Colombia, the world's No. 1 cocaine-producing nation, has been the cornerstone of a multibillion-dollar U.S. aid package.

Coca cultivation was also up 4 percent in Peru and 5 percent in Bolivia, the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime reported in its annual survey.