Dole Promises To Use Military To Combat Drugs He Would Prepare The National Guard To ‘Move In’

Declaring that President Clinton had “surrendered” in the war against drugs, Bob Dole vowed Sunday to devote the nation’s military capability to halting the influx of drugs and said he would prepare the National Guard to “move in” to combat them.

“We will make drug interdiction a priority for our intelligence services, beefing up not just technical operations but also human intelligence operations,” Dole, the Republican presidential nominee, said here in the shadow of the Democratic convention in Chicago.

“We will expand our use of military technology, including reconnaissance and satellites and area surveillance and listening posts to track drug movements toward our borders.”

It was not clear how sweeping the use of the military would be. Dole said that in his first 45 days in office, he would order military officials to come up with a specific plan.

Dole also acknowledged that using military forces for law-enforcement purposes was an idea to be approached warily. He said the threat of drugs, like the threat of terrorism from abroad, was an area where the military had a proper role.

Dole went on to promise: “We will renew our commitment to our National Guard drug-interdiction efforts. Working with the governors, we will create designated National Guard units with appropriate training and equipment to provide a rapid-response capability.”

He added, “If we need the National Guard to move in, they’ll have the training.”

Dole said that under the Clinton administration, spending for drug interdiction by the Defense Department had fallen sharply, with planes and ships spending less time hunting for suspected drug smugglers.

Although the United States spends hundreds of millions of dollars each year on ships, planes, radar stations and even tethered surveillance balloons to track incoming drug shipments, the effort, begun in the Bush administration, has proved largely ineffective.