Colombian forces yesterday launched a rescue of 15-hostages, some held for as many as 10-years, by FARC rebels. “I would remind you that these things require incredibly long planning and coordination, et cetera,” said Republican presumptive nominee John McCain. “There’s no way possible that it could have had anything to do with our visit that I could imagine. . . . It’s a very happy moment. These are very high-risk operations,” he said, adding that he did not know the rescue was being put together before deciding to visit Colombia. We are straining at the bit here mightily to avoid jumping with both feet into the cynicism pool over his incredible good fortune that the most prized detainees of 700-hostages held across Colombia were released yesterday.
US Govt. drug interdiction contractors Thomas Howes, Marc Gonsalves and Keith Stansell’s were shot down February, 2003. Subjects of a Time Magazine story on the fifth anniversary of their captivity, family members were angry with the US government over lack of progress and news of their plight. They were indeed the forgotten hostages. It appears to have been a brilliant deception operation leading to the forgotten three, former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and 11 other hostages to be rescued without a shot fired. And it was interesting that Columbian President Uribe would choose to personally brief Senators McCain, Lindsey Graham and Joe Lieberman about the covert “Operation Checkmate” before dinner on the 2nd day of their visit. “It was really a brilliant plan,” Lieberman said. “I think the timing was fortuitous. They just felt they had it ready to implement.”
A major shining moment foreign policy event highlighting the one resume strong point of Senator McCain occurs and he just happens to be in Colombia? What great coincidence that of all places on Earth an American presidential candidate could chooses to campaign over the annual 4th of July Independence Day holiday weekend, he chooses Colombia, and is witness to the biggest hostage rescue mission in this or any century?
OK, I admit I just lost the cynicism battle.
Whilst the glow is still here, John McCain has, at best, benefitted from extraordinary good fortune or… at worst, was caught in a continuing cynical and nefarious disregard for US sensibilities. As the mouthpiece for an Administration that led us into a 100-year war under false pretenses, outed a CIA agent out of spite then issued a Presidential pardon for the man responsible (well the guy taking the fall at least), Swift Boated the last Democrat to run for President and now, on centre stage, this event to boost to McCain’s failing poll ratings? It is not a huge stretch of the imagination to think the worst here. To quote former Texas Governor Ann Richards during her 1992 convention speech, “where… was… George?”
While sources in the White House admitted the Colombian military had some help from the US military in locating the rebel base, they refuse to go any farther and this should be one interesting day of Administration SPIN. A highly prized and high priority group of hostages were rescued without a single shot fired while 700 others remain held captive? And it occurred during a time when Washington is empty with Congress in recess for the holiday weekend?
President Alvaro Uribe’s stunningly simple “Operation Checkmate” was launched by undercover operatives who “duped” the rebels into putting the hostages on a military helicopter to be taken to rebel leaders in a new location. They over-powered the two FARC soldiers enroute and announced, “We are from the national army, you are all free.” If the government account is to be believed, FARC is “tired,” things had been going wrong for more than a year and it all began to unravel when two FARC commanders were killed earlier this year.
One can only hope then that John McCain journeys over the Labour Day holiday weekend to meet Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who in that meeting hands over Iran’s nuclear warhead triggers whilst begging for international forgiveness just days before the Republican nominating convention.
Brooke Army Medical Centre in San Antonio will be busy as the re-integration process medically, emotionally, mentally and physically begins for the three former hostages. Indeed, without the 5th anniversary Time story where relatives expressing frustration at the lack of news or movement from the US government and only two “proof of life” videos in five years, they would still be anonymous captives. The families suffered with no real news because the US was pre-occupied with wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
So if you follow the fawning SPIN on CNN and FOX, yesterday’s release was a miracle and should not have come as a surprise to anyone. We should all just shut up and be grateful? There are many unanswered questions here. While I want to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, the timing is strange.
Let’s hope the news cycle of the holiday weekend does not mean this story is DOA on Monday the 7th. Three men and their families deserve a better explanation than “a miracle occurred.”
