Escobar would help to demonstrate that there is a fundamental danger that the tactics of extremity which are part and parcel to the War on Drugs will only beget the tactics of extremity which Escobar and his ilk have perpetrated. The continued tolls of the conflict are highlighted by individual instances of brutality that are only partially motivated by economics. As a means to an end, Escobar also filled his reign with examples of an almost frivolous type of savagery which may have been equal parts an interest in building his own fearful mythology and a true depravity which made him uniquely suited to form the foil to America's militarism. In the Grant text, some such acts are highlighted, giving evidence both of his cruelty and excessive financial capability, telling of the rumour that Escobar was about to pay off the national debt of Colombia (U.S.$10bn) as a bribe, or...
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