In 1948, the Liberal Party candidate for the Colombian presidency was assassinated, initiating a nine-year period of terror known as La Violencia. Although La Violencia officially ended with a compromising pact called the National Front in 1957, Marxist forces such as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (know by the Spanish acronym FARC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN) have violently struggled against military and right-wing paramilitary forces for a larger share of political power for more than forty years.

Many argue that providing assistance to Colombia’s antidrug efforts entangles the United States in their civil war. They argue that most of the aid sent to the Colombian military is used to fight the rebels rather than the battle against drug trafficking. Despite atrocities committed by both the paramilitaries and the guerrillas, supporters claim that the United States funds...