BUSH WILL SEND U.S. AND ALLIED SOLDIERS TO HELL IN COLOMBIA. DO YOU CARE?
indymedia.ie by Militante Sat, Feb 8 2003, 11:20am
Here in Colombia, the Green Berets are pursuing one of Bush's most important, and perilous, foreign policy initiatives. With all the talk about Iraq and North Korea, Washington has done its utmost best to keep Colombia quiet. Risks include losing North American lives in a conflict that does not have the same so-called ''popular support'' as the mystery hunt for al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. Washington has a big stake in Colombia...
Producers note:
Why is Colombia important for anti-capitalists worldwide? Because it is not only one of its oldest puppet states but also the source of most of the illegal drugs Americans consume and oil supplies (which is connected to Venezuelan oil) it depends. U.S. leadership will help the fascists in my country try to end the 39 year old civil war, Bush and his advisers hope. They believe that what they will teach them will make the most difference, since it is their war to win or lose. Unlike Vietnam, the anti-war movement has begun very early to its advantage. Radicals of all political standpoints must remain focused on all of Uncle Sam's hit lists. Not to do so will undermine the effectiveness of the world anti-capitalist movement. As our class enemies organize, so should we, as solidarity is paramount for the historical victory of oppressed of the world in this dangerous imperialist era.
Once again; deconstructing the Empire's lies from its very own propaganda corporate machine and giving right wingers, conservatives, and pro-capitalists, who are now attempting to undermine the effectivenes of indymedia with aging divide and conquer tactics, a severe headache.
Yours, Militante.
Warrior Class Why Special Forces are America's tool of choice in Colombia and around the globe
By Linda Robinson
Arauca, Colombia--The lumbering cargo plane carrying the heavily armed men touched down at dusk. Its propellers churning, the U.S. Air Force C-130 popped its rear cargo hatch, and two dozen Green Berets spilled out. Straining against the hot engine blast, the men quickly unloaded pallets of ammunition, food, and gear. Minutes later, the big plane vanished into a moonlit sky.
In President Bush's global war on terrorism, America's Special Forces are on the front lines. But as the president said in describing that war after the September 11 attacks, the front lines would not always be readily visible, with many battles being fought in the shadows, far away from the bright lights of the television cameras. Around the globe, from Afghanistan to the Philippines, U.S. Special Forces are either fighting, getting ready to fight, or teaching friendly forces the arcane and deadly arts of war. In Afghanistan, it was Special Forces working with militias like the Northern Alliance that sent the Taliban fleeing in panic into a warren of mountain redoubts. If war comes in Iraq, Special Forces will play a key role early on, lighting up targets for smart bombs in the desert outside Baghdad and attacking Iraqi missile launchers before they can maneuver to fire. The new missions mean more money--lots of it. This year, Bush plans to increase the budget of all the Pentagon's Special Operations forces by 20 percent, to $6 billion.
Here in Colombia, the Green Berets deposited by the C-130 are prosecuting one of Bush's most important, and perilous, foreign-policy initiatives. With all the talk about Iraq and North Korea, Colombia hasn't received a whole lot of attention. But it has been very much on Bush's mind. Last fall, he promised Colombia's new president that he would do all he could to help him fight the rebel groups that control nearly half his country. In November, U.S. News has learned, Bush signed a secret order, National Security Presidential Directive 18, that officially widened the role of the American military here to do just that. During the Clinton administration, the Pentagon provided only counternarcotics assistance. Now, under Bush's new order, U.S. military and intelligence agencies are helping Colombia hunt down and wipe out the rebel groups. The directive "says to me that [the armed groups] are in fact more than simply drug guys," says Gen. James Hill, chief of the U.S. Southern Command, which directs all Pentagon operations in Latin America. "They are terrorists. And [the NSPD] directs us to go after them, in support of the Colombians." Colombia, in other words, is the latest battleground in the war on terrorism.
It is a very different battleground, however, from Afghanistan or the Persian Gulf. In this steamy, oil-rich jungle province, the rebel groups control the local government, extorting hundreds of millions of dollars in oil royalties. They regularly bomb a strategic oil pipeline--a joint venture of Occidental Petroleum and Colombia. They produce cocaine and heroin, then sell the drugs for weapons. Guerrillas have kidnapped or killed more than 120 American businessmen, oil workers, activists, missionaries, and tourists. All three of Colombia's armed opposition groups are named on the U.S. State Department's official list of terrorist organizations. Some of their most violent leaders are under indictment in the United States.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld worries that the world's "ungoverned areas" can become sanctuaries for terrorists. That worry, in a nutshell, explains why the Green Berets are here. And anyone who wants to get an up-close look at how the war against terrorism is being fought in the shadows need look no further than Colombia. Despite its reputation for stealth and secrecy, the Army's Special Forces Command arranged exclusive access to its front-line operations in Colombia, allowing a U.S. News reporter to spend a month in the jungle with the Green Berets.