Counternarcotics : lessons from the U.S. experience in Afghanistan.

Since its creation in 1963, United States Southern Command has been led by 30 senior officers representing all four of the armed forces. None has undertaken his leadership responsibilities with the cultural sensitivity and creativity demonstrated by Admiral Jim Stavridis during his tenure in command. Breaking with tradition, Admiral Stavridis discarded the customary military model as he organized the Southern Command Headquarters. In its place he created an organization designed not to subdue adversaries, but instead to build durable and enduring partnerships with friends. His observation that it is the business of Southern Command to launch "ideas not missiles" into the command's area of responsibility gained strategic resonance throughout the Caribbean and Central and South America, and at the highest levels in Washington, DC.

Contents: (1) An Overview of Illicit Drugs in Latin America and the Caribbean (LA&C): Drug Traffickers and Related Criminal-Terrorist Actors; (2) U.S. Antidrug Assistance Programs in LA&C: Plan Colombia: Mérida Initiative for Mexico and Central America: U.S. Assistance to Mexico Beyond Mérida; Central American Regional Security Initiative; Caribbean Basin Security Initiative; DoD Counternarcotics Assistance Programs; (3) Foreign Assistance Prohibitions and Conditions: Annual Drug Certification Process; Conditions on Counternarcotics Assistance: Human Rights Prohibitions on Assistance to Security Forces; Country-Specific Prohibitions on Certain Counterdrug Assistance; Drug Eradication-Related Conditions; (4) Issues for Congress. Illus.