In early September the aggressive dictators of Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia and Zambia were refusing corn from the United States. These benevolent imperialists refused grain shipments because the corn, grown in the United States, may or may not have contained genetically altered corn. At the time, their populations were suffering and dying from starvation, induced by severe flooding preceded by 2 years of unrelenting drought.

The dictators were up front in their chagrin. It was a horrible situation, they admitted. Sure, genetically altered corn had been shown by the world's scientific community to pose absolutely no health risks. And although their people were dying, they stood firm in refusal. You see, the corn was unacceptable because starving citizens could not be relied on to simply fill their bellies. No, the people wouldn't stop there. They'd fill their bellies and then do the unthinkable--plant any kernel remaining. A practice unacceptable to these visionary free traders.

By planting that corn, the dictators said, the population would ruin the African nations' chances of ever becoming the main trading partners of their former colonizer--Europe.

Against this nihilistic background, the deviant hand of Europe could be seen. Finicky, haughty, condescending Europe. Ironic, isn't it? The same people who patronize and condemn the United States for application of military force showed no remorse for the lethal consequences of their villainous manipulations.

Make no mistake. Blame lies at the feet of Europeans. Europe, land of the thousand unjust trade barriers, joined with Japan to control access to their lucrative markets. Europe and the trade-barrier-happy Japanese imposed labeling and traceability requirements on genetically modified grain. Ordinarily, labeling requirements would not be that onerous. But the Europeans and Japanese are not ordinary. They are grand masters of devious subtlety.

Scheduled for 2003, the regulations require labels on any food (for humans or animals) containing any trace of genetically modified ingredients, regardless of whether the offending ingredient has approval for consumption. You see, earlier both Europe and Japan were forced to concede that these products (as in Roundup Ready and Bt) were safe for human consumption. Even the European commissioner for health and consumer protection admitted that European fears were "irrational." Further, European scientists have called the crops "as safe if not safer" than traditional varieties.

Still, the devil is in the details. And who better at deviltry than Europeans? For all genetically modified foods, individual components must have certified records that allow EU regulators to trace ingredients back through the supply chain. That language mandates total separation of genetically modified and non-GM crops throughout the production chain as well as complete trace-back record keeping. In other words, to export to European or Japanese markets the United States would have to completely restructure its current system or prohibit the growing of genetically altered crops. Currently, the United States, Canada, China and Argentina contain 99 percent of the genetically modified crops. Europe and Japan don't grow them. Devilishly clever, don't you think? A perfect market for African dictators.

But, they've overlooked a solution to this vexing, Machiavellian problem. We need to air seed Roundup Ready beans and Bt corn in strategic areas throughout Europe, South America and Japan. Let the prissy hypocrites fuss and stomp and deal with the African dictators.