Benjamin Gilman: “the euphemism, war on drugs, is often misused to describe the struggle against the illicit narcotics which destroy our…”

“the euphemism, war on drugs, is often misused to describe the struggle against the illicit narcotics which destroy our communities and takes the lives of so many of our young people. However in Colombia, the major drug producing nation in our hemisphere, there is a raging narcotics based drug war, and it is only a short 3 hours away by aircraft from Miami. The Colombian National Police, the CNP, our longtime courageous and honest allies in the fight against the drug cartels and their narcoguerrilla allies, in the last 10 years alone they have lost nearly 3,000 police officers. These heavy casualties were taken fighting ours as well as their own grave struggle against the illicit drug trade. These brave police officers captured or killed all of the leadership of the ruthless Medellin cartel as well as all of the key kingpins of the more sophisticated and powerful Cali international drug cartel. The administration twice decertified the Government of Colombia over the last 2 years without a national interest waiver because of alleged corruption surrounding the Presidency.”