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Insurgencies are not put down in a fortnight. But considering the successes in the recent counter-insurgency sweep in Iraq's Al Anbar Province, one fact becomes obvious to anyone with so much as a sliver of an understanding of ground combat operations: Eliminating the insurgency in Iraq is best left to those who best know how to do it.

Like the exploits of 21st-century special operators – including U.S. Navy SEALs, Army Delta soldiers, Force Recon Marines, Air Force commandos, and CIA paramilitary operatives – stories of men like Ortiz are rarely gleaned from books, newspapers, and magazines. Their incredibly dangerous work often goes unseen and is thankless.

VENEZUELA: Socialism does make you feel better! Stuart Munckton, CaracasHaving come to Venezuela to witness the revolution and the social missions at its heart, I ended up having a closer view of one of the most important missions — Barrio Adentro (Into the Neighbourhood) — than I might have hoped or cared for, when I was “lucky” enough to become one of the 1% of victims of travellers’ diarrhoea to be hospitalised. Barrio Adentro was established around two years ago to bring free, quality health care to the poor majority. In the past, doctors have mostly shunned the poor...

Leftist “militants” ushered in the new year in Colombia in true form: Members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) murdered 17 peasants, including 6 women and 4 children, who were gathered to celebrate New Year’s Eve. When I say “true form,” I mean FARC was practicing the art that the extreme left has mastered, perhaps invented: terrorism. On this New Year’s Eve, the FARC was proving it believes the “end justifies the means,” as it is the grotesque, disfigured child of Lenin, Stalin, Mao, and, yes, even Hitler -- remember, he was a National Socialist (Nazi). FARC is...

BOGOTA - The offers come via e-mail, anonymous newspaper ads and word of mouth. And the temptation -- which includes making as much as 20 times their yearly salary -- has been strong enough to lure dozens of Colombians to Iraq to do some of the most dangerous work on the planet. ''If I spoke English, I would have gone,'' said one retired army major who specialized in intelligence gathering. The retired officer, who didn't want to give his name, received an e-mail about a year ago promising upward of $7,000 per month if he'd join one of the 60-odd...

The purpose of FreeRepublic.com's multiple message boards is to limit the topics for each board to particular topics. Posting the same message on all the boards defeats the purpose of multiple-boards for special topics. It is very annoying to see the same message on every bulletin board. PLEASE! DO THE READERS A FAVOR. STOP CROSS-POSTING YOUR MESSAGES!

The local news this week was not very pleasant. Barely one hour of San Felipe, in the cool mountains that serve of backdrop to Barquisimeto, we had a peasant massacre. I learned of that because one of my colleagues lives there and the worker at one of her neighbors was one of the victims.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) - A jury acquitted former paramilitary leader Louis-Jodel Chamblain of murder charges Tuesday after a secretive trial that began in the middle of the night, angering human rights groups who blamed the country's U.S.-backed government. Chamblain and co-defendent Jackson Joanis were acquitted just after dawn in the murder of Antoine Izmery, a former justice minister and financier of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, according to Stanley Gaston, an attorney for Chamblain. Three witnesses were called during the one-day trial, and only one of them was for the prosecution, said Viles Alizar with the National Coalition for Haitian Rights....

BOGOTA, Colombia (Reuters) - Colombian warlord Carlos Castano, whose disappearance has rocked peace talks between the government and far-right paramilitaries, has been strangled to death by former comrades, one of Castano's friends says. The outlaw Castano, who was political chief of the United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia, or AUC, went missing after a shootout with gunmen commanded by rival AUC chiefs at his hidden ranch in northern Colombia on April 16. "They caught Commander Carlos alive that very day and they killed him two days later, after they kept him for two days with his hands and legs bound,...

Racist war of the loyalist street gangs Orchestrated attacks on minorities raise fears of ethnic cleansing Angelique Chrisafis, Ireland correspondent Saturday January 10, 2004 The Guardian Not far from the red, white and blue paving stones, the Ku Klux Klan graffiti and the "Chinks out" notices scratched outside south Belfast Chinese takeaways, Hua Long Lin was at home watching television when a man burst in and smashed a brick into his face. His wife, also in the room, was eight months pregnant. The couple had moved into the terrace two weeks before. Neighbours expressed regret but one white family told...

Saddam's Enforcers NEW YORK, March 26, 2003 Mohammed Abdul Majid was a major in the Iraqi Army until he defected in 1991. In the Middle East today – we’ve been asked not to say exactly where–Abdul Majid told how he helped set up the unit that eventually became the Fedayeen.“They use a lot of fear, and horror,” he says. “They scare the people. They are well trained. They are well trained in killing. I'm not sure if they are trained in battles, big battles--you know, like we train in the Army.” They are, he says, trained for assassination. They are...

<p>LEXINGTON, Ky. -- The militia movement in Kentucky, once a stronghold of paramilitary activity in the United States, appears to be waning.</p> <p>With former Kentucky State Militia commander Charlie Puckett in prison and Steve Anderson -- another high-profile member of the group -- being sought as a fugitive, the militia is in disarray, despite recent efforts to regroup.</p>