SUB'S OMINOUS SIGNAL

In a plot reminiscent of James Bond (remember Dr. No building a nuclear
reactor on a Jamaican island in order to intercept U.S. rockets?),
Colombian police discovered a partially-built submarine in the mountain den
of drug traffickers.

According to naval experts, the 100-foot-long, 11-foot-wide sub is capable
of traveling 100 meters below the surface on long ocean voyages. Experts
believe the design would allow it to be transported in three pieces from a
construction warehouse outside Bogota to a port city for launching.

Clearly the sub was being constructed to carry large amounts of cocaine and
heroin to the U.S. and other countries.

While Bond movies are parodied -- think "Austin Powers" -- for over-the-top
technology, there's nothing funny about the Colombia discovery.

If drug traffickers can build submarines, they surely can build armies. If
they can buy engineering expertise from a Russian submarine builder, they
can buy nuclear weapon technology from rogue physicists. If they are
prepared to launch a submarine more sophisticated than any used by the
Colombian navy, they are prepared to launch a war against those who would
stop their business.

The submarine discovery is further evidence that America's $1.3 billion in
Colombian aid -- including 60 attack helicopters and 500 U.S. Army and
intelligence instructors -- delivered by President Clinton last week will
be used for military intervention.