Your tax dollars at work

“Extradjudicial killings” in Colombia. You’re paying.

“Plan Colombia“: half a billion of your dollars each year going to pay for certainly hundreds, likely thousands, of “extrajudicial killings” (i.e., murders) by the Colombian military each year. No, that doesn’t count the slaughter carried out by the army’s paramilitary allies, whose leaders now run the cocaine trade and have seats in the parliament.

But don’t worry: only some of the murder victims are “false positives.” Others were actually associated with the FARC.

If adherence to “free trade” requires voting for a free trade agreement with the Uribe regime, include me out.

Author: Mark Kleiman

Professor of Public Policy at the NYU Marron Institute for Urban Management and editor of the Journal of Drug Policy Analysis. Teaches about the methods of policy analysis about drug abuse control and crime control policy, working out the implications of two principles: that swift and certain sanctions don't have to be severe to be effective, and that well-designed threats usually don't have to be carried out. Books: Drugs and Drug Policy: What Everyone Needs to Know (with Jonathan Caulkins and Angela Hawken) When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment (Princeton, 2009; named one of the "books of the year" by The Economist Against Excess: Drug Policy for Results (Basic, 1993) Marijuana: Costs of Abuse, Costs of Control (Greenwood, 1989) UCLA Homepage Curriculum Vitae Contact: Markarkleiman-at-gmail.com