U.S. suspends some military aid to Colombia (CNN)

[struggle4progress]

From Karl Penhaul
CNN

BOGOTA, Colombia (CNN) -- ... The official did not state how much aid was involved, and there was no immediate reaction from the Colombian government ...

Of the 27 dismissed officers, 15 had received "some form of individual training" from the United States in recent years, the senior official said in a statement provided to CNN on Wednesday. The term "individual training" often means officers trained in U.S. military institutions.

Under U.S. law, Washington must vet Colombian military units before they receive aid to ensure they do not violate human rights. However, the law does not specify the definition of a military unit, which in some cases can even be applied to an individual rather than the battalion or brigade to which he belongs.

A carefully worded statement attributed to the U.S. government official said: "At the time of the dismissals, three subunits within which these individuals were serving were eligible for U.S. assistance: two division command units and one demining unit. Presently none of these units are eligible for assistance." ...

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/11/05/us.colombia/

[Judi Lynn]

1. Oh, someone shoot me! Bush has known about these events for years.

So has anyone else who does any research on Colombia.

He's feeling the heat politically, so he imagines it will make him look cleaner to "punish" Colombia's government by officially claiming he's cutting the gravy train give-away a little this year. Yeah, you bet.

They can't kill nearly enough leftists, people who might oppose the filthy control the right-wing wields over the lives of people better than they are. That's the way the right-wing does things. It's their nature. It's what they do. That's why people of normal intelligence, and decent sensibility (meaning NOT psycholically selfish, greedy, racist, and hate-directed) would love to see them unable to hold office, EVER. People like right-wingers don't help anyone but themselves, and they do it at the expense of everyone weaker than they are. They are genuinely people who don't pull their own weight. They scheme, plot, and dream of ways to get power, keep power, and keep others from getting anywhere near leadership positions.

Just like here! They can't get elected, so they cheat, or they kill people.

Only the lowest of the low would support U.S. right-wing efforts to bolster the homicidal, exploitive, unholy fascists in Colombia.

[Judi Lynn]

2. US 'fails to curb narcotics in Colombia'

US 'fails to curb narcotics in Colombia'
Thursday, 6 November, 2008 text

The nearly $US5 billion ($A7.3 billion) US aid package known as Plan Colombia failed to meet its goal of halving illegal narcotics production in the Andean nation, says a US congressional report.

The General Accounting Office (GAO) report does, however, note that the mostly military assistance helped Colombia markedly improve security, with kidnapping and murder rates falling and the armed forces greatly diminishing the leftist rebel threat.

Its release comes as US officials make it clear that aid for Colombia, an estimated $US657 million ($A960 million) in fiscal 2008, will now be trimmed because of the financial crisis.

A widening scandal over army killings of civilians to boost body counts that cost Colombia's army chief his job this week could, additionally, affect US aid to the nation.

President-elect Barack Obama is among US Democrats who have expressed concern over state involvement in human rights violations in Colombia's long-running conflict.

More:
http://news.sbs.com.au/worldnewsaustralia/us_fails_to_curb_narcotics_in_colombia_561895

[Judi Lynn]

3. Colombia army chief resigns amid scandal

Colombia army chief resigns amid scandal
By FRANK BAJAK
Associated Press Writer

~snip~
His critics acknowledge that kidnappings and street crime in major cities are down but say Montoya's policies have made Colombia's countryside more dangerous.

A former far-right warlord has accused Montoya of providing illegal militias with weapons and a CIA memo leaked to the Los Angeles Times says Montoya carried out joint operations with the so-called paramilitaries as a brigade commander in Medellin prior to his promotion.

Navi Pillay, the U.N.'s high commissioner for human rights, said that the killings of civilians were crimes against humanity and that if Colombia's criminal justice system didn't deal with them adequately, they could fall under jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.

Last month, Amnesty International called on the United States, the top foreign backer of Colombia's armed forces, to halt military aid until stricter measures were taken to halt the killings.

More:
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/755848.html