[Travis McGee]

Those guys are really in the hurt locker. I hope they don't have kids, but they probably do. You can bet they are being tortured for the amusement of the terrorists, and may be mailed home in pieces.

[HairOfTheDog]

What a mess.

Prayers for the men being held.... may they return home soon, and whole. We owe them whatever it takes.

[Howie66]

Sooner or later we're going to have to go to Columbia and kick some ass there. The sooner the better, frankly.

[NormsRevenge]

Does Sean Penn have his bags packed yet? He could take Jesse HiJackson along and talk reason with the rebels and gain the freedom of the hostages in no time.

[Askel5]

interesting

[Centurion2000]

Colombian rebels declared Monday that three captured Americans were "prisoners of war"

First it was Kim Jong Il and now it's these weasels..... if you guys really want War, we'll oblige you .... just give us a few minutes alright ??

[F16Fighter]

Anybody who's seen the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie, 'Collateral Damage' can see how easy it could be to infiltrate and take out Colombian rebels...

[backhoe]

-The Web of Terror--

-The Fire Down South...( Latin America--)--

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Bump!

[Hemingway's Ghost]

Brought to you, of course, by the War on Drugs: a real war.

[El Conservador]

As a Colombian myself, let me give you an overview of this situation:

For the FARC, any American citizen working in Colombia on anything (doesn't need to be military aid-related) is considered as a "CIA agent" and kidnapped for ransom or for a "prisoner exchange", which in practice is a guerrilla release.

The FARC has not taken over just because they're highly impopular inside Colombia, who is mostly an entreprising people (you have your moochers and those who expect the gubmint to do everything for them) and despises Communism. It survives because of the drug trade and the support it has from the Colombian leftist academia (entirely within the public schools and universities) and the leftist elites, governments and intellectuals in Europe and North America (USA and Canada).

The only effective way for the US to help fight the guerrillas is helping the constitutional Government and Armed Forces of Colombia. Supporting the AUC (paras) will only make matters worse. Paras are equally unpopular among the peasantry, which is more likely to collaborate with the Army than with the AUC.

As mentioned earlier by others, the AUC also finances themselves with drug money, and their human right abuses are as bad or worse than those of the FARC's, which is why they're unpopular.

The only ones needing any help are the Colombian Armed Forces.

P.S: You may want to set up a Colombia ping list... there's a lot of people who always post on Colombia-related threads.