Colombia To Aid U.S. In Taliban Fight

cbs ^ | July 27, 2009 | cbs

[Flavius]

CBS) U.S. forces are about to get some much-needed help as they fight the Taliban in Afghanistan, reports CBS News chief foreign affairs correspondent Lara Logan in an exclusive report. The Colombian commandos are U.S. trained and battle-tested from having defeated terrorists in their own country.

Ten years ago, they didn't even exist. Today, elite Colombian Special Operations troops are preparing to fight alongside the U.S. in Afghanistan, reports CBS News chief foreign affairs correspondent Lara Logan.

[Flavius]

by their deeds shall ye know them

[CondorFlight]

God bless Columbia!

(Per capita, they’ll probably do more than any NATO country—those we have defended at great cost for more than 50 years...)

[Recon Dad]

Good for the Colombians, they are our best friends outside of Canada in this hemisphere.

[bayouranger]

Bump!

[Lysandru]

As one top U.S. official said: "The more Afghanistan can look like Colombia, the better."

I have been saying stuff like this for a couple of years. President Uribe is my favorite foreign leader.

I am so pumped on this!

[marron]

Your allies aren’t the guys signing promises on paper. Your allies are the guys who are at your side when the lead flies.

[AmericanVictory]

There was a Colombian battalion in Korea. They were alongside Gordon Sumner’s unit when it was overrun and he later escaped and, back in Tokyo, to recuperate, became Douglas MacArthur speechwriter. The Colombians fought bravely and well. Most did not survive.

[maine-iac7]

An example of the returns when you “cast your bread upon the waters”?

Hoo-Rah! for Columbia

[Stonewall Jackson]

During the Korean War, Columbia sent an infantry battalion and six warships to assist in combat operations. By the time the war was over, they’d suffered 163 KIA, 448 WIA, and 28 MIA.