PBH / colombia (travelguide, pictures) / post

Interesting Op-Ed in today's WaPo on Colombia

The arch-conservative columnist Robert Novak has an interesting take on all the resignations going on lately in Colombia, in his op-ed titled "The Democrats Move Colombia"

I'm not going to comment too much on his views. Although I tend to vote for the Dems, I disagree with their tough stance on Uribe as it seems to me he is the lesser of two evils, but most gringos have no clue about the complexity of Colombian politics or all the historical background. So with that I'm on Novak's side. . . but when he tries to indict the "international left" by bringing in the Contras and El Salvador and so on, he has really stretched his point too far and is bringing a comparison that just doesn't apply. Again, the situation in Colombia is far too complex to bring in facile comparisons with U.S. misadventures in Central America back in the 80s.

But anyway the most interesting quote to me was this:

"In the first week of August, Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos confirmed what I reported from Bogota a year earlier: The Army's notorious 3rd Brigade, based in Cali, was infiltrated by drug cartels. . . "

That reminded me of the circumstances of the bombing of the Cali police barracks a few months back, which I thought was a message loud and clear from the cartels/FARC that the police are infiltrated as well. . .

And let's not forget Cali's recently ousted mayor who was not just figuratively blind. :)

By droble77 on Aug 27, 2007, 09:08 in Politics & the war.

droble77 says on Aug 27, 2007, 09:08:

Sorry, forgot to post the link:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/26/AR2007...

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Mr. Hollywood says on Aug 27, 2007, 11:14:

I loathe Novak but the irony of his column is that he's "blaming" the left for something that, if true, is essentially good. I mean, hell, if it REALLY took a change in power in the US Congress for the Colombian government to begin cracking down in earnest on corruption in the military, well then, more power to the Dems. And shame on the Colombians if that's really the only reason for reform.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Sr Tertius says on Aug 27, 2007, 20:25:

Mr. H: We're almost exactly on the same page on this. I'd add that what Novak is arguing for is what the "international left" has always argued about Uribe: That he sucks the balls of the US regardless of who is in power.

Now, what I find interesting is that Novak, unlike most US editorialists, takes the trouble of naming Colombian military personnel by proper name, but when it comes to his his explanations, he comes up with sophomoric generalities like the "international left" shit. I think he gets the data right, but his ideology is too strong to keep it restrained.

"When the finger points to the moon, the fool looks at the finger" (Chinese proverb)

0 funny, 0 helpful.

scotty says on Aug 28, 2007, 02:27:

you can always count on the left in this country to do the wrong thing, punish our friends and praise the enemy. Obama Usama yoMomoa is a prime example of left thinking, saying he wants to take US troops into Pakastan ( a friend/ally) of the US bomb parts of Pakastan, and searching for Osama with out the permission of our ally Pakastan. he also wants to sit down and talk with our enemies Chavez and castro and others.
he has it all back wards.
Then look at Gore the Bore, he shuns and insults Uribe who has been our ally all along and one of the few countries in SA that backs us up on our decisions.
You can be certain that the left will get it all wrong 2 out of 3 times.

Get Rhythm, when you got the blues. Johnny Cash

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Mr. Hollywood says on Aug 28, 2007, 10:26:

I'm just glad that after 6 years of total right wing control of the US government everything is fixed and running smoothly in the US and its foreign territories like Iraq.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

droble77 says on Aug 28, 2007, 13:05:

LOL, scotty first of all it's Pakistan NOT "Pakastan" Second you went WAY off topic and if you think Pakistan is a good friend/ally of the US, well, I think that's pretty naive. This is all about realpolitik here.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Sr Tertius says on Aug 28, 2007, 15:01:

Friends vs. enemies, name calling, "Pakastan"... what is this, third grade?

"When the finger points to the moon, the fool looks at the finger" (Chinese proverb)

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Mr. Hollywood says on Aug 30, 2007, 15:26:

More intelligent commentary!

Why would Chavez smuggle a dirty bomb into Miami? I don't think he's ever threatened to invade or bomb the US at all.

My sense was always that he was a paranoid tin horn dictator more interested in holding on to his own domestic power than any sort of overseas adventures.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Tinto (Moderator) says on Aug 31, 2007, 06:06:

For all his recent travels and focus on things outside of Venezuela, Chavez is remarkably stupid about the world. In "El Universal" he recently denounced a "New York Times" editorial and accused the "Times" of being controlled by George Bush.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Mr. Hollywood says on Aug 31, 2007, 09:03:

Dogman, I'd be interested in actually seeing those links if you can provide them.

Funny you would say Chavez is linked to both Mara Salvatrucha 13 and Al Qaeda. My own experience is that there's HUGE pressure on US law enforcement and intelligence to link those two groups, despite how unlikely it is that Salvadoran coke dealing gang bangers share any real alignment of interests with radical Islamic terrorists. And that pressure is coming from up very high. How very convenient that the link is now purported to be the Administrations favorite boogeyman.

Don't get me wrong, I think Chavez is a bad guy, but the Bush administration is trying to make him into something more than he is.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Sr Tertius says on Aug 31, 2007, 11:46:

I'm not familiar with any of the points raised by dogman (and I doubt they'll be fleshed out in any detail). I'd be interested, however, in knowing what agents were purchased by the Ven government that had (a) not been purchased before the Chavez admin, and (b) are not reasonably useful for purposes other than weaponry. The MS-13 Al Qaeda link seem very juicy: A first one in history, as far as I know. And they are not just 1, but "numerous." What's that? 3, 4? Give me 2, reasonably documented, and I'll be happy.

"When the finger points to the moon, the fool looks at the finger" (Chinese proverb)

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Mr. Hollywood says on Aug 31, 2007, 12:10:

Everyone is desperate to link "their" target group to Al Qaeda. Reason why is that if you're the FBI or a local PD trying to attack Salvadoran gang crime, there's only X-amount of funding available. But if you begin to create the fear that those gangs are actually INTERNATIONAL TERRORISTS IN CAHOOTS WITH OSAMA BIN LADEN! Then there's plenty of money to go around.

This is the same reason everyone in the Colombian government was rubbing their hands and jumping up and down when they caught "El Musulman" a few years ago. They thought for sure the had their certifiable Al Qaeda link.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Sr Tertius says on Aug 31, 2007, 14:03:

That's very good insight Mr H., but I'm willing to give the benefit of doubt: Maybe Salvadorean street gangs and communist rural guerrillas are aligned with fundamentalist islamists. After all, there are "numerous links." As I said, two verifiable links would convince me.

"When the finger points to the moon, the fool looks at the finger" (Chinese proverb)

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Mr. Hollywood says on Sep 1, 2007, 15:02:

I'm sure you could find two verifiable links between Al Qaeda and the Des Moines Rotary Club if you looked hard enough.

0 funny, 0 helpful.