Officials worry threats, opportunities in Southern Command obscured by wars

[unhappycamper]

Officials worry threats, opportunities in Southern Command obscured by wars
By Leo Shane III, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Sunday, April 27, 2008

MIAMI — Three U.S. contractors have been held hostage in Columbia for more than five years. Even in the military, few people know much about their story.

“When (Air Force major) Jill Metzger went missing, it was the top news story throughout America for days,” said Col. Jim Russell, Air Forces Southern director of operations. “But there has been no attention whatsoever to these three.

“It’s a shame people don’t pay more attention to what’s going on in South America. It’s the Global War on Terror, not just Middle East. We’ve got problems on our doorstep that need to be addressed.”

Officials at U.S. Southern Command say they worry the relative anonymity of their mission — at least compared to operations in Iraq and Afghanistan — leaves most Americans uninformed about the U.S. mission and presence in their nearest neighboring continent.

The State Department’s international narcotics report released last month lists nearly every South and Central American country as a conduit for illegal drug trafficking.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=54350



uhc comment: Looks like the newly stood up 4th Fleet now has something to do. (Plus they have oil.)