McCain, other senators praise Colombian president
By Tyler Bridges | McClatchy Newspapers
CARTAGENA, Colombia — John McCain and two other U.S. senators who accompanied him lavished praise on Colombian President Alvaro Uribe during a 20-hour trip here that ended Wednesday afternoon before the dramatic news that special forces had rescued 15 hostages held by anti-government guerrillas.
McCain, Sen. Joseph Lieberman and Sen. Lindsey Graham took turns praising Uribe, who's raised a ruckus within Colombia's political establishment during the past week by asking the country's Congress to let him run for president an unprecedented third time.
Leftist critics of Uribe have said he's trying to perpetuate himself in office like a "dictator." Human rights groups have been saying for months that the president hasn't placed enough priority on reducing atrocities against peasants committed by the military.
However, Colombians overall have given Uribe extraordinarily high ratings, with 70 percent saying they view him favorably.
Under Uribe, guerrillas in the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia are on the brink of defeat, major cities have become mostly safe for the first time in years and the economy has grown steadily.
McCain praised Uribe in two public appearances, the first with the president by his side, for reducing violence in Colombia and combating the shipment of cocaine to the United States.
"The progress that I've seen since previous visits here has been substantial and positive, recognizing that in human rights and other issues there is still progress that needs to be made," McCain told U.S. and Colombian reporters Wednesday.
"What we have found here is a government led by President Uribe that is at war with drug cartels, terrorists and paramilitary groups to take back the country on behalf of people. And he is succeeding," said Lieberman, an independent Democrat from Connecticut.
Graham, a South Carolina Republican, was even more effusive.
Read On
Full Version: McCain, other senators praise Colombian president
QUOTE (Deke @ Jul 6 2008, 11:09 AM) 
McCain, other senators praise Colombian president
By Tyler Bridges | McClatchy Newspapers
CARTAGENA, Colombia — John McCain and two other U.S. senators who accompanied him lavished praise on Colombian President Alvaro Uribe during a 20-hour trip here that ended Wednesday afternoon before the dramatic news that special forces had rescued 15 hostages held by anti-government guerrillas.
McCain, Sen. Joseph Lieberman and Sen. Lindsey Graham took turns praising Uribe, who's raised a ruckus within Colombia's political establishment during the past week by asking the country's Congress to let him run for president an unprecedented third time.
Leftist critics of Uribe have said he's trying to perpetuate himself in office like a "dictator." Human rights groups have been saying for months that the president hasn't placed enough priority on reducing atrocities against peasants committed by the military.
However, Colombians overall have given Uribe extraordinarily high ratings, with 70 percent saying they view him favorably.
Under Uribe, guerrillas in the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia are on the brink of defeat, major cities have become mostly safe for the first time in years and the economy has grown steadily.
McCain praised Uribe in two public appearances, the first with the president by his side, for reducing violence in Colombia and combating the shipment of cocaine to the United States.
"The progress that I've seen since previous visits here has been substantial and positive, recognizing that in human rights and other issues there is still progress that needs to be made," McCain told U.S. and Colombian reporters Wednesday.
"What we have found here is a government led by President Uribe that is at war with drug cartels, terrorists and paramilitary groups to take back the country on behalf of people. And he is succeeding," said Lieberman, an independent Democrat from Connecticut.
Graham, a South Carolina Republican, was even more effusive.
Read On
By Tyler Bridges | McClatchy Newspapers
CARTAGENA, Colombia — John McCain and two other U.S. senators who accompanied him lavished praise on Colombian President Alvaro Uribe during a 20-hour trip here that ended Wednesday afternoon before the dramatic news that special forces had rescued 15 hostages held by anti-government guerrillas.
McCain, Sen. Joseph Lieberman and Sen. Lindsey Graham took turns praising Uribe, who's raised a ruckus within Colombia's political establishment during the past week by asking the country's Congress to let him run for president an unprecedented third time.
Leftist critics of Uribe have said he's trying to perpetuate himself in office like a "dictator." Human rights groups have been saying for months that the president hasn't placed enough priority on reducing atrocities against peasants committed by the military.
However, Colombians overall have given Uribe extraordinarily high ratings, with 70 percent saying they view him favorably.
Under Uribe, guerrillas in the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia are on the brink of defeat, major cities have become mostly safe for the first time in years and the economy has grown steadily.
McCain praised Uribe in two public appearances, the first with the president by his side, for reducing violence in Colombia and combating the shipment of cocaine to the United States.
"The progress that I've seen since previous visits here has been substantial and positive, recognizing that in human rights and other issues there is still progress that needs to be made," McCain told U.S. and Colombian reporters Wednesday.
"What we have found here is a government led by President Uribe that is at war with drug cartels, terrorists and paramilitary groups to take back the country on behalf of people. And he is succeeding," said Lieberman, an independent Democrat from Connecticut.
Graham, a South Carolina Republican, was even more effusive.
Read On
You haven't really stated what your problem with this picture is. Are you having a problem just because you despise Graham, Liberman and McCain, or do you feel they are doing something wrong?
[quote name='Deke' date='Jul 6 2008, 10:09 AM' post='65372']
McCain, other senators praise Colombian president
That's because Uribe is their pawn.
McCain, other senators praise Colombian president
That's because Uribe is their pawn.
Uribe Their Colombian Red Bud.
QUOTE (QBC @ Jul 6 2008, 11:44 AM)
You haven't really stated what your problem with this picture is. Are you having a problem just because you despise Graham, Liberman and McCain, or do you feel they are doing something wrong?
For me the actions themselves seem all well and good. But all this does seem too good to be taken at face value given the timing of the Presidential race and the fact that CAFTA will be such a pivotal issue in that race (or that at least the Republicans hope it will be). There is also the position the Bush Administration has staked out against Hugo Chavez and the possibility that the October surprise could very well turn out to be military action in South America as much as any action in the Middle East or domestically. Congratulations to the recently freed hostages and their families, but I can't help but think of Beirut whenever this story comes up.
QUOTE (Fellixe @ Jul 6 2008, 01:59 PM)
For me the actions themselves seem all well and good. But all this does seem too good to be taken at face value given the timing of the Presidential race and the fact that CAFTA will be such a pivotal issue in that race (or that at least the Republicans hope it will be). There is also the position the Bush Administration has staked out against Hugo Chavez and the possibility that the October surprise could very well turn out to be military action in South America as much as any action in the Middle East or domestically. Congratulations to the recently freed hostages and their families, but I can't help but think of Beirut whenever this story comes up.
That and the fact that the freed hostage is in the state of mind to announce, already, that she is going to [i]write a play[i]
Oh, my.
U.S. Military Looks to Colombia to Replace Base in Equador
http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/3611
U.S. Military Looks to Colombia to Replace Base in Ecuador | venezuelanalysis.com
An article by the Colombian weekly magazine Cambio suggests the U.S. military base in Manta, Ecuador, will be moved to a new location in Colombia after the U.S. military's contract with Ecuador expires in 2009. The likely new host for the U.S. base is Colombia's Palanquero air force base in Puerto Salgar, 120 miles north of Bogata.
snip
You know what that means...the election has been decided, and there will be another war. Remember that fighter jet Blackwater bought in South America?
U.S. Military Looks to Colombia to Replace Base in Equador
http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/3611
U.S. Military Looks to Colombia to Replace Base in Ecuador | venezuelanalysis.com
An article by the Colombian weekly magazine Cambio suggests the U.S. military base in Manta, Ecuador, will be moved to a new location in Colombia after the U.S. military's contract with Ecuador expires in 2009. The likely new host for the U.S. base is Colombia's Palanquero air force base in Puerto Salgar, 120 miles north of Bogata.
snip
You know what that means...the election has been decided, and there will be another war. Remember that fighter jet Blackwater bought in South America?
July 7, 2008 -- Colombian hostage "rescue" a staged event
There is a mounting body of evidence, both open source and classified, that the "rescue" of former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, three American military contractors working for Northrop Grumman -- Marc Gonsalves, Thomas Howes and Keith Stansell -- and eleven Colombian hostages from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) was a staged event designed to serve as a propaganda boost for Colombia's pro-U.S. President Alvaro Uribe and the flagging presidential campaign of Republican presidential candidate John McCain, who was visiting Bogota at the time of the hostage "rescue," an operation code named "Jaque."
To believe the Colombian government and US ambassador to Bogota William Brownfield, whose previous stint was in Caracas, Venezuela where he was charged with trying to foment rebellions against President Hugo Chavez, the fifteen FARC hostages were rescued after Colombian intelligence infiltrated the top echelons of FARC, tricked local FARC commanders that the hostages were being moved by an MI-17 unmarked helicopter to another rebel camp, and then flew the hostages by helicopter to safety. The "rescue" team, wearing FARC clothing and accompanied by a video crew, was even reported to have taken acting lessons.
More suspicious is the number of Colombian and foreign intelligence organizations now claiming to have been involved in the "rescue" operation. In addition to Colombian military and intelligence, those claiming a role in the operation include U.S. Special Forces, U.S. intelligence, the US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), and, more recently, according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the Israeli security company Global CST owned by retired Israeli Brigadier General Israel Ziv and Brigadier Yossi Kuperwasser. The company claims to have a team of ex-Mossad, Shin Bet, and Israeli Defense Force personnel in Colombia helping the government to battle the FARC.
Brownfield cited close American intelligence, equipment, and training advice in assisting Colombia in securing the hostages' release. There are reports that US surveillance aircraft were used to monitor the communications of the FARC. SOUTHCOM commander Admiral Jim Stavridis said his military command "closely monitored" the hostage "rescue" events. However, WMR has been informed by sources within the National Security Agency (NSA) that the priority for rescuing the three American contractors, said to be involved in counter-narcotics operations but in reality were signals intelligence (SIGINT) operators eavesdropping on the FARC and another guerrilla group, the ELN, was practically non-existent. The three Americans were said to have been taken hostage in 2003 after their Cessna aircraft crashed in the Colombian jungle. In fact, the three were, according to NSA sources, SIGINT specialists who spoke fluent Spanish and were trained in hostage survival in a special military school called SERE, "Survival, Evade, Resist and Escape."
Other NSA sources report that the actual number of American SIGINT operators on board the downed aircraft was around 8 or 9 and that the aircraft was larger than a normal Cessna. On March 27, 2001, then-SOUTHCOM commander General Peter Pace testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee that "a fully manned and functioning regional SIGINT Operating Center at Medina, Texas, is essential to support our AOR [Area of Responsibility] operations." Under "Plan Colombia," the Medina facility, then called the MRSOC and now "NSA Texas," NSA's Spanish linguists at Medina should have had FARC communications intercepts relating to the three and, likely, more American SIGINT operators being held hostage as their top priority. However, according to Spanish and Portuguese linguists at the MRSOC, hostage rescue SIGINT operations were of no concern to NSA.
At the time of the downing of the US SIGINT plane by the FARC in 2003, General Michael Hayden, now CIA director, was director of the NSA.
(snip)
Swiss RSR journalist Frederich Blassel reported that FARC commander Gerardo Aguila Ramirez, aka "Cesar," was paid the $20 million and was allowed to be "captured" by Colombia in the "rescue." RSR's report was backed by the French online news daily MediaPart. MediaPart reported that the two FARC commanders would be given political asylum in France. There are other reports that Cesar and another FARC commander will be given new identities by either Spain, France, or Switzerland.
The $20 million was reported to have come from France, Colombia, and the United States. The hostage "rescue" was a propaganda coup for Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, who was facing charges of complicity with right-wing drug cartels and paramilitaries; McCain, who was visiting Colombia when the hostages were freed; and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who was facing a plunge in popularity polls in France.
(snip)
Colombia has reacted to the ransom report by accusing Swiss FARC-Colombian government intermediary Jean-Pierre Gontard, of being the courier for $480,000 destined for the FARC and seized by Costa Rican police at the request of Bogota from an alleged FARC safe house in San Jose, the Costa Rican capital. The Uribe government has accused Gontard of funneling cash to Raul Reyes, the FARC commander killed in a Colombian raid on a FARC base in Ecuador earlier this year.
(snip)
The timing of the release of the hostages and the June 30 arrival in Colombia of Gontard and French diplomat-negotiator Noel Saez, two days before the hostage release, is what has observers keen on a ransom deal being worked out. The Uribe and Bush administrations have repeatedly insisted that there can be no payments made to terrorist groups like the FARC. Gontard has been accused by Bogota of being the leaker of the story about the $20 million ransom to RSR.
(snip)
The accusations being leveled against Gontard by the neocons and the Uribe regime are similar to the neocon attacks on other diplomats, including UN officials Hans Blix, Mohammed ElBaradei, and others who have crossed neocon provocateurs in the past.
(snip)
http://www.waynemadsenreport.com
There is a mounting body of evidence, both open source and classified, that the "rescue" of former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, three American military contractors working for Northrop Grumman -- Marc Gonsalves, Thomas Howes and Keith Stansell -- and eleven Colombian hostages from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) was a staged event designed to serve as a propaganda boost for Colombia's pro-U.S. President Alvaro Uribe and the flagging presidential campaign of Republican presidential candidate John McCain, who was visiting Bogota at the time of the hostage "rescue," an operation code named "Jaque."
To believe the Colombian government and US ambassador to Bogota William Brownfield, whose previous stint was in Caracas, Venezuela where he was charged with trying to foment rebellions against President Hugo Chavez, the fifteen FARC hostages were rescued after Colombian intelligence infiltrated the top echelons of FARC, tricked local FARC commanders that the hostages were being moved by an MI-17 unmarked helicopter to another rebel camp, and then flew the hostages by helicopter to safety. The "rescue" team, wearing FARC clothing and accompanied by a video crew, was even reported to have taken acting lessons.
More suspicious is the number of Colombian and foreign intelligence organizations now claiming to have been involved in the "rescue" operation. In addition to Colombian military and intelligence, those claiming a role in the operation include U.S. Special Forces, U.S. intelligence, the US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), and, more recently, according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the Israeli security company Global CST owned by retired Israeli Brigadier General Israel Ziv and Brigadier Yossi Kuperwasser. The company claims to have a team of ex-Mossad, Shin Bet, and Israeli Defense Force personnel in Colombia helping the government to battle the FARC.
Brownfield cited close American intelligence, equipment, and training advice in assisting Colombia in securing the hostages' release. There are reports that US surveillance aircraft were used to monitor the communications of the FARC. SOUTHCOM commander Admiral Jim Stavridis said his military command "closely monitored" the hostage "rescue" events. However, WMR has been informed by sources within the National Security Agency (NSA) that the priority for rescuing the three American contractors, said to be involved in counter-narcotics operations but in reality were signals intelligence (SIGINT) operators eavesdropping on the FARC and another guerrilla group, the ELN, was practically non-existent. The three Americans were said to have been taken hostage in 2003 after their Cessna aircraft crashed in the Colombian jungle. In fact, the three were, according to NSA sources, SIGINT specialists who spoke fluent Spanish and were trained in hostage survival in a special military school called SERE, "Survival, Evade, Resist and Escape."
Other NSA sources report that the actual number of American SIGINT operators on board the downed aircraft was around 8 or 9 and that the aircraft was larger than a normal Cessna. On March 27, 2001, then-SOUTHCOM commander General Peter Pace testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee that "a fully manned and functioning regional SIGINT Operating Center at Medina, Texas, is essential to support our AOR [Area of Responsibility] operations." Under "Plan Colombia," the Medina facility, then called the MRSOC and now "NSA Texas," NSA's Spanish linguists at Medina should have had FARC communications intercepts relating to the three and, likely, more American SIGINT operators being held hostage as their top priority. However, according to Spanish and Portuguese linguists at the MRSOC, hostage rescue SIGINT operations were of no concern to NSA.
At the time of the downing of the US SIGINT plane by the FARC in 2003, General Michael Hayden, now CIA director, was director of the NSA.
(snip)
Swiss RSR journalist Frederich Blassel reported that FARC commander Gerardo Aguila Ramirez, aka "Cesar," was paid the $20 million and was allowed to be "captured" by Colombia in the "rescue." RSR's report was backed by the French online news daily MediaPart. MediaPart reported that the two FARC commanders would be given political asylum in France. There are other reports that Cesar and another FARC commander will be given new identities by either Spain, France, or Switzerland.
The $20 million was reported to have come from France, Colombia, and the United States. The hostage "rescue" was a propaganda coup for Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, who was facing charges of complicity with right-wing drug cartels and paramilitaries; McCain, who was visiting Colombia when the hostages were freed; and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who was facing a plunge in popularity polls in France.
(snip)
Colombia has reacted to the ransom report by accusing Swiss FARC-Colombian government intermediary Jean-Pierre Gontard, of being the courier for $480,000 destined for the FARC and seized by Costa Rican police at the request of Bogota from an alleged FARC safe house in San Jose, the Costa Rican capital. The Uribe government has accused Gontard of funneling cash to Raul Reyes, the FARC commander killed in a Colombian raid on a FARC base in Ecuador earlier this year.
(snip)
The timing of the release of the hostages and the June 30 arrival in Colombia of Gontard and French diplomat-negotiator Noel Saez, two days before the hostage release, is what has observers keen on a ransom deal being worked out. The Uribe and Bush administrations have repeatedly insisted that there can be no payments made to terrorist groups like the FARC. Gontard has been accused by Bogota of being the leaker of the story about the $20 million ransom to RSR.
(snip)
The accusations being leveled against Gontard by the neocons and the Uribe regime are similar to the neocon attacks on other diplomats, including UN officials Hans Blix, Mohammed ElBaradei, and others who have crossed neocon provocateurs in the past.
(snip)
http://www.waynemadsenreport.com
QUOTE (QBC @ Jul 6 2008, 12:44 PM)
You haven't really stated what your problem with this picture is. Are you having a problem just because you despise Graham, Liberman and McCain, or do you feel they are doing something wrong?
I'll take a stab at it QBC...I think they are doing something VERY wrong. Until and unless Colombia safeguards it's union organizers, instead of killing them, we have no business talking "free trade" with them. I worked with the AFL-CIO last presidential election and met a union organizer visiting from Colombia...when we were saying goodbye he asked me to pray for his safety. He was dead serious and I will never forget it. He was leaving the next day and everyone was pretty upset that we couldn't get his visa extended.
I'll be honest to say I have no respect for the three of them for other reasons as well...but you knew that
QUOTE (fla1sun @ Jul 6 2008, 04:28 PM)
That and the fact that the freed hostage is in the state of mind to announce, already, that she is going to [i]write a play[i]
I found that off-putting.
QUOTE (egghead @ Jul 7 2008, 03:38 PM)
I found that off-putting.
Yes, and telling....revealing an activated right hemisphere at that moment.
QUOTE (Christine @ Jul 7 2008, 04:34 PM)
I'll take a stab at it QBC...I think they are doing something VERY wrong. Until and unless Colombia safeguards it's union organizers, instead of killing them, we have no business talking "free trade" with them. I worked with the AFL-CIO last presidential election and met a union organizer visiting from Colombia...when we were saying goodbye he asked me to pray for his safety. He was dead serious and I will never forget it. He was leaving the next day and everyone was pretty upset that we couldn't get his visa extended.
I'll be honest to say I have no respect for the three of them for other reasons as well...but you knew that
I'll be honest to say I have no respect for the three of them for other reasons as well...but you knew that
Thank you. That's what I was looking for. I don't agree, but now I understand.
I admire Ingrid Bettencourt. I think she is sincere in wanting the remaining hostages released. Things like this don't happen by accident. If it was staged for political reasons, maybe the good news is that she will get them out. I think she has a purpose in this, but it might not be political anymore. Last night on Larry King she said "there are other ways to do things than politically."
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