Posted on 07/15/2008 6:40:11 PM PDT by tobyhill
BOGOTA, Colombia (CNN) -- Colombian military intelligence used the Red Cross emblem in a rescue operation in which leftist guerrillas were duped into handing over 15 hostages, according to unpublished photographs and video viewed by CNN.
Photographs of the Colombian military intelligence-led team that spearheaded the rescue, shown to CNN by a confidential military source, show one man wearing a bib with the Red Cross symbol. The military source said the three photos were taken moments before the mission took off to persuade the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia rebels to release the hostages to a supposed international aid group for transport to another rebel area.
Such a use of the Red Cross emblem could constitute a "war crime" under the Geneva Conventions and international humanitarian law and could endanger humanitarian workers in the future, according to international legal expert Mark Ellis, executive director of the International Bar Association.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
They should have used the Red Crescent...
Do these people have no shame? Is any lie to monstrous for them not to spout it as gospel? You have to be a war with a Geneva signatory, and this would be a country not a group of traitorous rebels, before the Geneva Convention applies. Who ever this idiot "expert" is, he is so full of sh** I can smell him from here.
It’s a wonder that CNN’s leftest guerilla buddies didn’t kill them all once they saw that Red Cross. I think they were pretty lucky. What they did was pretty risky.
The rescue made Columbia look intelligent and in some ways looked great for the Bush administration so CNN has to find some way to rain on the parade with more propaganda.
So what?
And if CNN had access to photos and videos, they'd already be plastered all over the TV screen.
You know, I’ve never seen so much hand-wringing over an operation like this. Its like the media is upset the good guys won. Every day it seems a new story comes out trying to find something, ANYTHING, wrong with what was done. Sad really.
The terrorist always use Red Cross Symbols, in an attempt to disguise themselves, so they probably didn’t think twice about this helicopter.
Like Rush says of the MSM: “Believe nothing you read, and half of what you see!”
Where’s the proof?
lol . what a waste
Only the leftist guerilla-loving pinheads at CNN would think that a “war crime” had been committed.
CNN must think the Geneva Convention was a suicide pact.
I do not see any kind of cross. Can it be that CNN has invented another story? It is not exactly like bombs falling out of red crescent ambulances, it it, when you can’t even see crosses. I fear that the cnn pukes are smoking crack again.
Same diff down there.
“Such a use of the Red Cross emblem could constitute a ‘war crime’ under the Geneva Conventions and international humanitarian law and could endanger humanitarian workers in the future, according to international legal expert Mark Ellis, executive director of the International Bar Association.”
Ellis is lying.
Anyone who has ever been in the military, or has even seen a reasonable amount of authentic combat video, will know that military medical personnel are permitted to wear the Red Cross as part of their uniforms.
Similarly, the Geneva Conventions specify that unarmed aircraft used for the evacuation of casualties (and the hostages were clearly in need of medical attention) may be marked with the Red Cross. The use of threats, force, or tactical deception to prevent interference with a lawful attempt to evacuate sick or wounded is, itself, perfectly lawful.
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