Kitten, you wrote:
"
I'm glad Uribe is finally getting assertive about this with the two regional clown leaders who plague his eastern and southern borders."
I have the feeling Uribe is getting flat-out "assertive" period! Just yesterday he announced that he was
ending talks with the FARC on a negotiated "prisoner exchange" -- meaning imprisoned FARC guerrillas for kidnapped Colombians -- and would instead order an offensive against them in two centers of southeastern Colombia which the FARC is asking the Colombian government to declare as a "safe haven" for them. Uribe is coming under significant domestic criticism for his tough stance, but it seems that he has the overall support of the people as best as I can tell. The Colombians have become pretty tough over the years and last week's failed FARC assassination attempt against a Colombian General did not help their cause.
And as a side comment, I have the feeling today's story is primarily aimed at Ecuador. marron's post #5 above is directly in line with other information I have seen and probably goes a long way to describing Uribe's motivations.