Posted on 04/22/2007 12:11:59 AM PDT by Kitten Festival
Sen. Patrick Leahy last week put a hold on $55.2 million in military aid to Colombia, citing the increasing number of reports of collaboration between Colombian officials and right-wing paramilitaries. The scandal, widely called "para-politics," has rattled Colombian President Alvaro Uribe's government, hurting the president both in Colombia and in the United States.
Nine Colombian legislators and a governor have been arrested, and the former foreign minister and head of the national police have also been implicated. The revelation most devastating for Mr. Uribe's reputation in the United States came last month, when a CIA report that alleged collaboration between Colombian army chief Gen. Mario Montoya and paramilitary groups was leaked to the Los Angeles Times. That revelation prompted particularly strong criticism because of the high level of military aid sent to Colombia.
The fact that these collaborations are now being exposed and investigated is a result of Mr. Uribe's success, not his failure. The Colombian president successfully negotiated an agreement that disarmed around 31,000 paramilitary fighters, making substantial progress toward breaking up Colombia's paramilitary network. The first "para-politics" revelations came after police raided the home of one paramilitary leader, seizing his computer and his files. Although the deal caused some controversy by offering reduced sentences for those who turn themselves in and confess, Colombian officials have pointed out that it is far improved from an amnesty agreement.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Thank the Lord that we have Sen Leahy on the side of, the side of, the side of, wait, who`s side is he on?
Leahy is the worst.
Any countries left that my taxes aren’t supporting?
Probably just one. The USA.
Let’s block all aid to all countries, execpt Israel.
Colombia is in a struggle for her freedom against Communist guerillas financed by the likes of Chavez and other despots.
To deprive Colombia of the means to pursue the struggle against tyranical communists and socialist is to side with the latter.
The house and the senate KNOW THIS and are actively supporting the resurgence of leftist guerillas in Colombia.
Yes, this action was not just a piece of Dem isolationism - it’s part of a strategy to let the left win in Latin America.
This is indeed disgusting.
Another damned CIA leak. The odds are excellent that nothing will be done. Cowardly Washington!
This whole subject seems disturbing. Yet ,when visiting the “freep” home pages of the last three posters on this subject,you all come off as “off-the-wall”, pompous crazies with wild ideas about just about everything.
Where is this subject discussed rationally? Who is really carrying the flag?
You want Colombia to ignore drug laws and do nothing when drugs are shipped to the US? Since Uribe’s become president, $40 billion worth of coke has been kept out of the US. Colombia only has a drug problem because there are American buyers of drugs. Given them a miserable $55 mil is a bargain. And it’s the least we can do, too, they’re willing to fight if we’ll write a check. This isn’t porkbarrel crap, it’s warfighting aid.
What’s going on here with this aid cutoff is an effort to paint the Colombians as ‘contras’ to get back at Geroge Bush. It should be seen though.
The “arithmetic” of all this speaks volumes.
Who’s most likely to be revealed?... most when all the covers are pulled?
The whole issue feels like a PR setup.
I don’t see why one cent of our tax money should go to any country.
I called them up about this myself and they totally denied it, hinting it was some congressman or someone else in government who did it, fwiw. Given that the Colombians surely won’t talk as freely with them anymore, they might be telling the truth, the spokesman’s tone was so bitter, it made me think he wasn’t jiving me. It’s hard to say who leaked but the leaker needs to be found, fired and jailed.
Colombia only has a drug problem because there are American buyers of drugs.”
What’s up with that?
Every time I see drug busts on COPS, they’re either posing as dealers and busting a bunch of derelict yahoos who want a rock to get high or they’re going after “Mr. Big” in some dirty, rat infested, third world neighborhood, with a Plymouth Fury on blocks in the front yard, a skinny woman with a black eye, holding a kid while another one is trying to climb up her leg, and the inside of the place looks better after the cops get through tossing it?
What the hell are you talking about. I noted that it was another CIA leak, and that likely nothing will be done about it. The first is true; the second an opinion. Regarding the second, I have history on my side. PS, I was not aware I had a “home page.” Oh, and by the way, I am a poster who has actually lived in Colombia. Medellin. If I have wild ideas, please let me know what they are and I will adress your concerns.
That’s because the real “Mr. Big” has usually prearranged political immunity from arrest. ;)
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