Body-count politics; harkens back to Vietnam...

goin_south says on Apr 15, 2008, 06:16:

you think the army guys really took time to 'dress these people in other clothes' for the count? I think that's a bit ridiculous leftist thinking.

Maybe they correctly or incorrectly thought/knew these civilians were in fact strong farc supporters, ... maybe even with their own guns.
I ain't supportin killin, but the journalist like to write their own take.

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Gator says on Apr 15, 2008, 09:32:

Ho humm! Same old same old. But I wonder why FARC, et.al. is not also taken to the woodshed.

"None are so blind as those who will not see."

"Bene, cum Latine nescias, nolo manus meas in te maculare" .

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Lcacique says on Apr 15, 2008, 17:37:

jack_jason, it is on the Colombian government to prove that the victims were indeed FARC members. They are the one doing the killing, not the human rights groups.

It is a bizarre world when people defending the basic rights of individuals are attacked for caring for the voiceless. Not to mention, it is a little crass for a government that has been proven to have ties with the paras to go around calling human rights groups supporters of terrorism.

I do not know of a single human rights group that condones the actions of the FARC. If they dedicate more of their efforts to the paras, it is because they have committed the most violations.

And if killing FARC supporters is somehow legitimate, why not kill para supporters as well?

"Es fácil vivir con los ojos cerrados interpretando todo lo que se ve mal..." ~ J. Lennon

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Gator says on Apr 16, 2008, 19:24:

Please, support your arguments and premises.

"Bene, cum Latine nescias, nolo manus meas in te maculare" .

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Alma del Norte (☼Travelguide writer) says on Apr 16, 2008, 19:46:

Neonovo says on Apr 16, 2008, 20:30:

The thread was not in support, or against any faction. Just a comment on "body-count politcs", in which somehow the perpetrators seem to revel on high numbers, regardless of who falls, where, or why.

Remember Vietnam-era headlines? "3 GIs wonded, 38 Vietcong and 22 Nortvietnamese regulars dead" But Ho Chi Minh didn't care if the ratio was 1 to 10 or 1 to 100 and he said so; My guess is neither does the FARC.

If you took the 5 minutes to actually listen to the story, you'll know who does care; how about the mother's anguished voice describing her 16 year old son: one day just a teenager running around with his buddies, leaving the life. Next, the colombian state decides this boy is better off in a body-bag -duly contributed by the american tax-payer- ridicolously dressed up in fatigues which probably weren't even his size, and probably were brand new, also duly contributed by the same.

Peace
Neonovo

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Lcacique says on Apr 16, 2008, 21:01:

Which premises and arguments are you concerned with, gator?

Government ties to paramilitary:

"Paramilitary Ties Investigated and Prosecuted: To ensure all persons with alleged paramilitary links are brought to justice, Colombia’s judicial authorities are – with the full support of the Uribe Government – aggressively investigating and prosecuting legislators, government officials and military officers tied to such allegations."

http://www.state.gov/e/eeb/tpp/90380.htm

"They have been responsible, according to human rights groups, for the greatest number of extra-judicial killings and forced disappearances since 1995; a January 2001 report of the Colombian defense ministry cited these groups as responsible for some 56% of all massacres committed in Colombia between1995-2000, compared to 44% committed by the guerrillas. (Human rights groups have attributed a much larger proportion of massacres to the paramilitaries.)"
Page CRS-13

http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/6573.pdf

"According to the Colombian authorities, in 2002, the AUC was responsible for 2,601 deaths and 182 kidnappings and is considered by international human rights groups and the U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE to be responsible for 70 percent of the human rights violations in Colombia."

http://www.justice.gov/dea/pubs/history/1999-2003.html

"Colombia's "para-political" scandal widens"
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N19293877.htm

"Es fácil vivir con los ojos cerrados interpretando todo lo que se ve mal..." ~ J. Lennon

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Lcacique says on Apr 16, 2008, 21:05:

I don't support the paras or the FARC either.

"Es fácil vivir con los ojos cerrados interpretando todo lo que se ve mal..." ~ J. Lennon

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Alma del Norte (☼Travelguide writer) says on Apr 16, 2008, 21:45:

Lcacique says on Apr 16, 2008, 21:59:

That is why I capitalized the last one from the DEA website stating that the US State Department also considers the paras to be guilty of 70% of the human rights violations.

Alma, it's not me mentioning those silly human rights groups, it's the US government that cites them. jajaja...

"Es fácil vivir con los ojos cerrados interpretando todo lo que se ve mal..." ~ J. Lennon

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Lcacique says on Apr 17, 2008, 08:33:

jack_jason: "Why they do not publish a list of people who are in those "organizations"?"

Maybe because they are one of the principal targets of the paramilitary.

"Es fácil vivir con los ojos cerrados interpretando todo lo que se ve mal..." ~ J. Lennon

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