In regard to the editorial on military action needed in Colombia (Aug 29): the cocaine problem is no joke, but the solution you proposed is. Must we resort to the same militaristic might that once may have been a functional response of our ancestors? Since our foreheads are higher and jaws smaller, can’t we conceive an intelligent solution? For years military action has proved ineffective with our friends south of the border. However, should the U.S. decide to send troops, make sure their linguistics are versed in Latin, as Quayle would well advise.

The Northern Star editorial staff wrote, “We are dealing with suppliers, suppliers who would just as well see these children dead than alive.” This insinuation toward the Mendellin Cartels may or may not be true. But what is true is that the “cowboys” are a little more sophisticated than to resort to distributing narcotics directly to children with the intent to see them dead. It is simpler to deal with U.S. congressmen and high-ranking officials, among many other facets of our society.

Can it perhaps be an underlying problem that exists within our own society that permits the continual influx of cocaine? We must take caution with sensationalistic statements and subjective truths. Those who have little understanding of Colombian ethnology might be misled into making generalizations and inadvertently fall into ethnocentrism and cultural myopia.

TR Biddle enlightened us with the following statements in the Sept. 8 letter to the editor on military need and provided an example of someone misled. “If it wasn’t for those greedy Colombian farmers, this country wouldn’t have any drug problems or all of the other problems that come with the dope heads… allowing our citizens to smuggle their dope into our country to feed the drug habits of millions of our innocent addicts anyway?” Mr. Biddle, I hope your were being sarcastic; if not, please mail in the circumference of your forehead. I think we have found the missing link.

Let’s not forget that crack, LSD, PCP and now “Crank” were developed with little help from Third World nations. How can we expect a Third World country to deal with a syndicate problem when it is exacerbated by North Americans’ demand for a happy pill? Who do we have to blame for our self-indulgence? A nation with the capacity to place a man on the moon should have the impetus to remove its drug problem without displacing the responsibility.

A phenomenon called the Fundamental Attribution Error appears to be at work. We perceive another’s negative behavior tied directly to their own internal characteristics, while we attribute our own personal flaws to external circumstances. We blame our drug problem on those damn Colombians. This is an unfair and erroneous assumption. I am a Colombian-American and I safely can say that cocaine kingpins are but a handful, and in no way indicative of the norms and mores of the majority. Colombian society regards drug use as distasteful and beneath them. Paradoxically, cocaine is a symbol of social prestige in this country. Therefore, Colombians seem to SAY NO! Whereas North Americans seem to SAY YES!

Michael Marin

Senior

Psychology, Spanish