Drug Control: Expanded Military Surveillance Not Justified by Measurable
Goals or Results
(Testimony, 10/05/93, GAO/T-NSIAD-94-14)
Although the Pentagon has significantly expanded U.S. monitoring and
detection of cocaine smugglers, this expanded capability has come with a
hefty price tag and has yet to reduce the flow of cocaine onto American
streets. The portion of the federal drug budget earmarked for military
surveillance has quadrupled during the past five years, without
measurable goals or results to show that the increases were warranted.
Decisionmakers have lacked critical information needed to assess the
costs and benefits of military surveillance. The nation's continuing
failure to reduce the cocaine flow is not an indictment of the
Department of Defense's (DOD) surveillance efforts. But in the absence
of measurable goals for DOD's mission, the fact that cocaine remains
affordable and readily available in the United States strongly suggests
that surveillance is not producing results commensurate with its costs.
--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------
REPORTNUM: T-NSIAD-94-14
TITLE: Drug Control: Expanded Military Surveillance Not Justified
by Measurable Goals or Results
DATE: 10/05/93
SUBJECT: Drug trafficking
Controlled substances
Search and seizure
Contraband
Defense capabilities
Military operations
Operations analysis
Cost effectiveness analysis
Defense budgets
Intelligence gathering operations
IDENTIFIER: Central America
Mexico
National Drug Control Strategy
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