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Politics : Just the Facts, Ma'am: A Compendium of Liberal Fiction -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sully- who wrote (64534)	3/4/2008 12:56:57 AM
From: Sully-	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 90947

Reyes' computers tell an even worse story — that Chavez has been a state sponsor of terror, secretly funneling $300 million to the FARC. Ecuador, too, was surprisingly neck- deep in "commitments" to the FARC. These are acts of war. Let Colombia Win By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY Posted Monday, March 03, 2008 4:20 PM PT Terror: Some city in the world owes thanks to Colombia, which on Saturday blew away a terrorist seeking uranium for a nuclear bomb. Instead of thanks, we see only fury at Colombia over its incursion into Ecuador. Colombia's armed forces and national police performed one of the most spectacular anti-terror strikes in history, taking out FARC chieftain Raul Reyes, the No. 2 terrorist in the Marxist cocaine-trafficking guerrilla group. Using American training and satellite technology, the hit took out a member of the FARC's inner circle for the first time, ending all illusion of safety at the top. Identified by his Rolex watch, the Marxist thug had a $5 million price on his head. Better still, Colombia's well-trained armed forces seized three of his computers with some surprising contents: A FARC plan to buy 50 kilograms of uranium to expand into international terrorism. Colombia's victory followed a series of powerful blows against other FARC leaders. As defections from the group rise and the terrorist leadership is decapitated, a picture emerges of a war being won after nearly 50 years of fighting. But outside Colombia, do we hear "congratulations"? No. We hear complaints from nations such as France, Argentina, Venezuela, Chile and Italy that Colombia's forces went into Ecuador chasing a terrorist, violating its "sovereignty" — even though, as documents show, Ecuador helped Colombian guerrillas make themselves at home in that country. Colombia apologized for the incursion, and had every right to expect understanding. But instead of a spotlight on Ecuador for harboring terror camps, critics focused on Colombia's trespassing. Those who've trumped up this false charge have much to answer for in their involvement in the FARC. Foremost among them, Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez screamed outrage, calling Colombia a "criminal" state for rubbing out the Rolex revolutionary. He then advocated the overthrow of Colombia's democratic government and sent 10 tank divisions and 6,000 troops to the Colombian border. He ordered Ecuador to do the same, raising the specter of war. That's bad enough. But Reyes' computers tell an even worse story — that Chavez has been a state sponsor of terror, secretly funneling $300 million to the FARC. Ecuador, too, was surprisingly neck-deep in "commitments" to the FARC. These are acts of war. This changes the idea of Venezuela and Ecuador as upstanding members of the international community. We have no illusions about what they've done to their own democracies, but those who criticize only Colombia happily preserve the fiction. More specifically, to countries such as France and Argentina, Chavez has masqueraded as a neutral "mediator" in Colombia's conflict, persuading them to think he was an honest broker whose only interest was in freeing FARC hostages. In fact, he's the FARC's banker, safe-haven provider and advocate, urging Europe to take the FARC off the internationally recognized list of terrorist groups in exchange for the release of hostages. Europe has bought into Chavez's pretense of neutrality because it has always favored appeasement and payoffs over risky fighting as a means of winning wars and freeing hostages. It never works. And yet, at the exact moment of Colombia's victory, Europe suddenly seems interested in mediating a peace process between the FARC and Colombia, as if the two were moral equals and victory were impossible without concessions to terrorists. Chavez's involvement shows just how morally questionable that approach is. Colombia's critics in Europe, Latin America and elsewhere are playing a discredited peace game at the very hour of Colombia's victory. In so doing, they negate the only solution likely to free hostages and bring peace, which is fighting for it. In light of its success — and the nuclear threat to the world the FARC poses — Colombia deserves the right to give victory a chance. ibdeditorials.com