|
enablers, the Colombian military and government.
"Allied with the (Colombian) Armed Forces, they (the rightwing paramilitary death squads) operate with impunity."
The stats--the Colombian military 20 of the atrocities; their paramilitaries 21 cases--total 41--and the leftist guerrillas 5 cases--parallel Amnesty International's report that 92% of the murders of union leaders in Colombia have been committed by the Colombian military (about half of the 92%) and their closely tied death squads (the other half), and only 2% by the FARC. (The rest are ordinary street crime, or drug related--non-political.) (AI states that the reason that a leftist group like FARC would kill union leaders is that the victims were likely government agents.)
The stats tell the story: Those whom our (Bushwhack) government touted as "democratic" and worthy of $6 BILLION in military aid are doing MOST of the killing of innocents in Colombia. About 80% of these cases; 92% of the AI cases.
Once again, WE are PAYING these criminals $6 BILLION in military aid (plus other aid) to kill thousands of innocent people. The U.S. military is also in Colombia, as is Blackwater--and we have no idea to what extent they are colluding in extrajudicial killings, or, indeed, with the drug trafficking for which the Colombian military and their deaths squads are notorious, and which also has close ties to top government figures.
The human rights violations are bad enough. U.S. complicity in these awful acts makes it even worse, because our government, our military and our tax dollars bring responsibility for these acts right back here, to the U.S.A. You and me, to the extent that we have let our government get out of our control, are responsible.
------------
There is something else that we are ultimately responsible for, and that is the failure of every peace effort to end the 40+ year Colombian civil war.
Team members report, "We have yet to see any real progress toward the rule of law and a negotiated peace."
Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, Rafael Correa of Ecuador, Cristina Fernandez of Argentina, President Sarkozy of France, Spanish and Swiss envoys and others have tried, over the last two years, to bring about a peace settlement of this civil war, starting with negotiations for the release of hostages held by the FARC. One such effort was stopped cold, when the U.S./Colombia used ten U.S. "smart bombs" to blow away the camp of the chief FARC hostage negotiator, just inside Ecuador's border, early last year, killing 25 people in their sleep, and then raiding over the border to shoot any survivors in the back. This dreadful act--which was likely orchestrated from the U.S. embassy "war room" in Bogota--almost started a war between the U.S./Colombia and Ecuador/Venezuela. The FARC were about to release high-profile hostage Ingrid Betancourt and others to French, Spanish and Swiss envoys, who were in Ecuador for that purpose, under Rafael Correa's auspices. (This was in March 2008.)
The U.S. also used U.S. high tech surveillance to pinpoint the FARC camp, and possibly a U.S. plane out of the U.S. military base in Manta, Ecuador, to drop the bombs on Ecuador's territory. President Correa of Ecuador had pledged to evict the U.S. military from this base, this year when the lease expires. This is why. The U.S. cannot be trusted. And this incident gives further momentum to his pledge. (About 80% of Ecuadorans want this U.S. base removed.)
Ingrid Betancourt thus remained captive for about six more months (and it is a wonder she wasn't killed in the bombing/raid--her release was supposed to be the next day). The U.S./Colombia then staged a highly theatrical "rescue" of Betancourt later in the year--to which John McCain was invited. This "rescue" featured Colombian military illegally parading as Red Cross.
The Bushwhacks and their cartel in Colombia have no regard for the hostages' lives--except as they can use the hostages for political benefit. An earlier incident illustrates this. In '07, 'President' Uribe of Colombia asked Chavez to negotiate with the FARC for hostages releases. Chavez proceeded to do so. Two hostages were about to be released, in Nov 07, as the result of Chavez's efforts. The Colombian military then bombed the hostages' location, as they were in route to their freedom, driving them back into the jungle on a 20-mile hike. Their press conference later (Chavez finally got them out by a different route) was not covered by our corpo/fascist media. In other words, Colombia had lured Chavez into hostage negotiations with the FARC, only to commit this treachery, trying to inflict him with a diplomatic disaster with dead hostages. Chavez got a total of 6 hostages released, then gave it up, because it was too dangerous to the hostages. The effort then shifted to Ecuador, where the U.S. put an end to it with ten "smart bombs."
Chavez and the others involved in hostage releases (including the FARC negotiator, Raul Reyes, whom the U.S./Colombia bombed into oblivion) had the goal of a peaceful settlement of the civil war. Venezuela and Ecuador are impacted by this war. Tens of thousands of Colombian refugees from this war have flooded into Venezuela, and the Chavez government--being a social justice government--has to take care of them. The conflict often spills over Venezuela's and Ecuador's borders. This is no one's interest except the war profiteers. After all this effort to bring about a peaceful settlement, Uribe (who had initiated Chavez's involvement) and the Bushwhacks then began a media campaign to paint Chavez and Correa as "terrorist lovers."
This is why, as the Christian Peacemakers report, there has been no "real progress toward the rule of law and a negotiated peace." Neither the Bushwhacks nor the Colombian military want peace. War is their boondoggle.
|
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
