The Swiss mediator Jean-Pierre Gontard

tasco66 says on Jul 16, 2008, 08:48:

The Perilous Path of Cowardice

By George Handlery
Created 2008-07-11 22:31


Western failures behind apparent success. The wisdom of the advocates of surrender. Switzerland‘s reputation and the ambitions of a show-horse Foreign Minister. When the mediator is a party to the dispute. The past we used to have and the new past we are getting. Is Peking talking to Tibet or is it just emitting noise to confuse? George Handlery on the week that was.

1. The freeing of Ingrid Betancourt by Columbian commandoes is good news. The bad news is the implications that keep emerging regarding the will and the ability to defend civilization against its enemies. Much of this edition of “Duly Noted� will be dedicated to the Columbian and Tibet aspects of this problem.

2. The news coverage of the event in Columbia reveals a fundamental weakness of the West. As a captive, Betancourt became a symbol. In that capacity she damaged the self-enamored, Marxist FARC. It is a part of the picture, which should not be blotted out that Betancourt was kidnapped while running against the “extremist� Uribe. Besides the implied judgment, she was also wrong about her assessment of the insurgents. Led by a typical misjudgment of leftist terrorists, Betancourt walked into a predictable trap. Thereafter, her helpers continued the pattern of being wrong about the facts of life. Her children – to be praised for clever, effective but misdirected activism in behalf of their mother – and the French government’s efforts joined to pressure mainly Uribe. He was to secure the release of Betancourt by paying the price to be set by the narco-rebels. The result of this “realism� would have been a major victory for the jungle Marxist and major damage to Columbia. Uribe remained undaunted. As a result, all interests involved were served to a maximal extent.

3. Columbia’s democratically elected government resisted the pressure to make concessions to terrorists. The nudge to “be realistic� and to give in came from two sources. (1) Some advocates of surrender represented the wisdom of friends such as France. Proudly she still takes credit for having prevented liberation by force. The Foreign Minister must sense the problem. Thus, Kouchner opined that the successful operation is not a “defeat� of those who had advocated conciliation. Those “others� were NGO’s and “neutrals.� (2) Hostile neighbors desiring Uribe’s bankruptcy, most notably Chavez and Corea, used “negotiations� to complement politically what their physical support of ideologically allied guerrillas was attempting to achieve. Between these two categories are Washington’s measures. There a major party foolishly dislikes Uribe more than it might sensibly doubt the FARC. America’s resulting paralysis held back much what would have aided Columbia.

4. A special and surprising case looms hidden behind the façade. Properly and successfully, Switzerland has historically justified her neutrality by using her status to facilitate conflict resolution. (Briefly, the Swiss concept of neutrality included clearly stated obligations. One: the ability to defend militarily the country‘s integrity. Two, to use her neutrality to perform services mediating in the interest of the world community.) This role required strict neutrality and much discretion while acting as the go between hostile parties. Alas in the Betancourt case evidence is propping up that is to the country’s and to global diplomacy’s disadvantage. Switzerland’s ability to serve the international community is being jeopardized by her own government. More exactly, the culprit is not the Federal Council (cabinet) but the loose gun, the ear-to-ear smiling Councilor (minister) of Foreign Affairs, Ms Calmy-Rey. Moved by a combination of naiveté and the shibboleths of leftist ideology, the good lady (the gender deserves mention as when criticized she likes to hide behind it) is willing to discard a centuries old tradition that had served this unusual country terribly well. Wherever you live, you will have no trouble finding comparable cases suggesting that ideology is allowed to take precedence over the facts.

5. The story with Swiss particulars continues. Take the case of her mediator in Columbia. Professor Jean-Pierre Gontard is acting in the service of the eccentric leftist “show horse� Foreign Minister who sympathizes with the rebels. After Betancourt’s liberation, Calmy-Rey promptly thanked herself for her engagement. Polite Uribe also called to do the same. Regardless of this, even the foreign office admitted that, the release of the hostages had nothing to do with CR’s mediation. Meanwhile a certain Lucas Gualdron is allowed to run from Lausanne the FARC’s European HQ. A local weekly is made to wonder about the intense contacts between this Gualdron and the Swiss mediator in Columbia. While the foregoing was being edited, the suspected foul is gaining substance. It is being reported that secret FARC documents retrieved by a Columbian raid, reveal that Ms CR’s “mediator� had acted as a currier delivering money to the terrorists.

6. Can it be a surprise that, after evaluating the data, Bogotá has (July 8) announced its intent in the future not to make use of either Swiss or French mediation in confronting the Communist insurgency? The not-so-hard-to-guess reason: Columbia does not trust the “neutral� mediators who had worked for the “other side�.

7. New developments emerging make the topic “Columbia� and its bifurcations appear to be under a special curse. Or so it seems to someone who attempts to complete an up-to-date manuscript on the matter. A growing number of unexpected skeletons stumble out of closets that had not been detected previously. The newest (July 10) is that Gontard’s recall has been repeatedly requested by the Columbians. Ms Calmy-Rey’s Ministry refused to comply. Spicy details about the Professor’s unusual status emerge. First, Columbia is, unlike comparable cases, the special file of Ms CR. Second, Gontard is employed under different terms than the 20 other mediators. The Ministry’s bureaucracy is not communicative regarding the reasons. Meanwhile Columbia, too, wants the Swiss to explain such oddities. It appears that Mr Gontard is sort of a double agent. Oh, not of Swiss democracy and of the Red guerillas. Much rather he served a personalized Swiss Foreign Office and the Marxist insurgency, while as a nominally neutral mediator he impersonated before a duped international community the honest broker.

http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/3407/print

Bravo, Presidente Uribe for the perfect operation!

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tasco66 says on Jul 16, 2008, 12:38:

You can not use any Euros as negotiators with the Farc, since they all seem to sympathise with the terrorists.

Bravo, Presidente Uribe for the perfect operation!

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Dolfi says on Jul 17, 2008, 00:54:

You can use no americans als allies or negotiators, as they are only looking for their own countries interests and kick your ass as soon as you turn around.

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billyb says on Jul 17, 2008, 07:11:

You are from germany right? I wonder what yor neighbors think.

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tasco66 says on Jul 17, 2008, 07:43:

Colombia should not rely on others to deal with the Farc

It was a bad idea to use the French as negotiators because of Ingrid. The French were willing to do anything to have her released, even making deals behind the back of the Colombian government. The Swiss have a left wing activist as foreign minister, that does not care about Swiss neutrality, so that was a bad idea too. I don’t know if the British would have been any better. Can you imagine Ken Livingstone as mediator? He would have spent his time smoking Cuban cigars with the Farc.

Bravo, Presidente Uribe for the perfect operation!

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tasco66 says on Jul 17, 2008, 07:47:

“You are from germany right? I wonder what yor neighbors think�

Yep, just ask Lichtenstein.

Germany just used some old Gestapo and bully tactics on Lichtenstein…

Bravo, Presidente Uribe for the perfect operation!

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billyb says on Jul 17, 2008, 11:45:

tasco, if there was poetic justice, our little friend, dolty would be speaking russian.

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tasco66 says on Jul 17, 2008, 12:33:

"tasco, if there was poetic justice, our little friend, dolty would be speaking russian."

Jajaja

They sure seem to have a short memory, maybe we need to build some monuments to remind them who saves their a**

Bravo, Presidente Uribe for the perfect operation!

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Dolfi says on Jul 18, 2008, 01:15:

Ask the French what they think about you. Or the Mexicans or most of the rest of the world.

By the way, the USA entered WW II to save their own ass, because Hitler had declared war on America, not the other way around. That was in 1941, and it took the USA three long years until they came to help the British.

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tasco66 says on Jul 18, 2008, 04:26:

Doldi ask the Holocaust survivors what they think about you

When I think the USA saved West Germany from being a satellite of the Soviet Union, and then instituted the Marshall Plan which allowed West Germany to become an economic super power, and I see the ingratitude of Germans like Dolfi, I just can’t stop and wonder if it was not just a big mistake

Bravo, Presidente Uribe for the perfect operation!

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tasco66 says on Jul 18, 2008, 05:52:

"Ask the French" Who Sarko l'Americain?

Bravo, Presidente Uribe for the perfect operation!

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Dolfi says on Jul 18, 2008, 06:00:

The Marshall Plan can be understood as a part of the Cold War, in which Germany was very important to the USA as the foremost frontier state with the russians and possible battlefield. I don´t deny that there may have been humanitarian impulses involved, but without the cold war there would´nt have been any Marshall Plan (probably Morgenthau Plan instead).

Do you know who Werner von Braun was? He was the guy who invented the rockets for the nazis that where shot into London at the end of the war, later became a big person in the NASA, and nobody cared for him beeing a Nazi.

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Dolfi says on Jul 18, 2008, 06:07:

I said "Ask the french" not "Ask Sarkozy". His relatively pro-american position has made him very unpopular in France:

“Sarkozy's affection for a man reviled by most of France (Pres. Bush) was partly responsible for his own precipitous decline from an approval rating of nearly 70% soon after his election, to a low of 32% in May. Public perceptions that Sarkozy's policy on issues such as Iran's nuclear program has made French foreign policy too submissive to U.S. dictates has also contributed to the French leader's slide. Although Sarkozy's numbers have crept back up to 38% of late, another high-profile love-fest with Bush is more likely drag them down than to boost them."

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1814455,00.html?xid=feed...

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tasco66 says on Jul 18, 2008, 06:11:

Dolfi, where would you be now if the Allied forces had allowed the Soviets to take over the whole of Germany?

Bravo, Presidente Uribe for the perfect operation!

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billyb says on Jul 18, 2008, 06:27:

"Ask the French what they think about you. "

Since when has what the french thought ever mattered? The only reason germany is not causing any mischief nowadays, is because it has been emasculated militarily and they would get bitch slapped by either russia or the US, or god forbid, maybe even by france, LOL>

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tasco66 says on Jul 18, 2008, 06:36:

Dolfi how do you think the French see the Germans invaders?

Bravo, Presidente Uribe for the perfect operation!

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Rikito says on Jul 18, 2008, 08:52:

Dolif, like many before you history revisonism is alive and well. Someday no doubt people like will deny the holocaust and all else that is evil in the world. The US did not enter WWll to save thier own ass as you falsly stated. The U.S. had every intnention of staying out of the war for as long as possible. Instead the US chose to supply the 'allie' with the goods they need. They even allowed Texaco and other oil companies to sell oil to your patron saint and other commodiites as well. Officially the US wanted to remain nuetral becasue they had no causal actio against the NAZI's. There were also thousands of Germans in the US with US citizenship and could vote. So there was no ass to be saved. In fact Hitler tried to do everything he could not to go to war with the US...a war he knew that he would surely loose. Based on geography alone anyone 2 with an IQ of 2 above a rock can see how stupid such an action would be. Japan acttack not to conquer the US, but to force treaties with the US and others over the 'asian" becasue they (japan) lack a contiual flow of natural resources the most important of which was (here come that awful word again...sorry) OIL.

Adolf Hitler made his announcement at the Reichstag in Berlin saying he had tried to avoid direct conflict with the US but, under the Tripartite Agreement signed on 27 September 1940, Germany was obliged to join with Italy to defend its ally Japan. He accused President Roosevelt of waging a campaign against Germany since 1937, blamed him for the outbreak of war in 1939 and said he was planning to invade Germany in 1943. Of course there is no evidence to support this thesis.

If you want to talk about Colombia on the site please feel free to say whay you want. If you want to talk about Germany and the millions upon of human lives and private property that has been destroyed for no viable reason please go to www.wedonotgiveashit.com

It is not life that matters, but the journey.

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Dolfi says on Jul 21, 2008, 01:03:

at tasco66

1) There wouldn´t ever have been any chance of the Soviets taking over other countries without the crisis at Wallstreet in 1929 and its consequences on the world economy. If you are looking at the german election results from 1930 the Nazi party was down, in 1933 they had become strong enough to form the government (with the help of the traditional right wing parties).

2) According to the last reports I read 82% of the French see the Germans as their closest friends and allies. In fact the European Union was mainly founded by and is based on Germany and France.

at Rikito

Hitler wanted to rule the World, long range bombers to attack the USA where allready in planing. I am sure that he would have attacked if things would have developed better for him. What kept him from doing so was the way the war went in Russia. Moreover you´re confirming what I said: That the USA where very reluctant to enter WW II.

I am ready to talk about Colombia, but I feel free to respond to stupid generalizations like "You can not use any Euros as negotiators with the Farc, since they all seem to sympathise with the terrorists."

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