Role of the U.S. Military in the War on Drugs (From Latin American Narcotics Trade and U.S. National Security, P 75-88, 1989, Donald J Mabry, ed. -- See NCJ-127031)

• NCJ Number: 127037
• Author(s): D J Mabry
• Date Published: 1989
• Length: 14 pages
• Sale Source: Greenwood Publishing Group
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Analysis
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This analysis of the implications of using the United States military to combat the international drug trafficking emphasizes the potentially serious effects on military readiness, nationalistic reactions in Latin America, and the evolution of domestic politics within the United States.

Abstract

In recent years the military has slowly and reluctantly increased its involvement in the campaign against the Latin American narcotics trade. Those who do not understand the complexities of drug trafficking consider the use of the military to be an obvious and easy solution to the failed interdiction campaign. However, the direct use of the military will present problems related to interdiction on the high seas and at the border, the use of the National Guard, the potential corruption of the military, the conflict between the military's intelligence-gathering and civil liberties, arrest powers, implications for civil-military relations, and cost-effectiveness. Instead, the United States Customs Service should be the lead agency, the Coast guard should serve as one enforcement body, and the military's mission as the nation's defense against foreign armies and against domestic insurrection should be reaffirmed.