When Theodore Roosevelt was president of the United States at the turn of the century, he advised the best way to conduct foreign policy was to 'speak softly, and carry a big stick'. US President Bill Clinton is an apt student of the burly explorer-soldier-politician who believed actions frequently spoke louder - and were more effective - than persuasion.
Mr Clinton has adapted the advice of his predecessor. He is waving a mighty fiscal club at nations he perceives do not do enough against drug dealers, and he is also talking, but loudly.
His message is simple; act or we cut off business links. Basically, it is bribery and extortion. Hopefully, it may work. But I doubt it. Threats to take financial action against Mexico, through which a river of drugs flows freely into the US, were last week aborted; politics again took precedence over principles.
US frustration at its continual failure to stamp out narcotics is understandable. But in this justifiable rage, are its leaders aiming at the right target? Again, I doubt it.
The aims of the president and Congress may be laudable; let us crack down on drug producers and traffickers and those governments which do not act against them quickly enough. Stamp out the drug lords. Smash the heroin rings. Jail the cocaine dealers, and if governments are shown to be involved or turn a blind eye, then blame them and shame them.
But before such action is taken, they should reflect on the basic cause of the drugs business.
