Bush will pay terrorists, specifically the AUC, with our money to destroy democratically elected Chavez of Venezuela for oil.
We are the terrorists.
If Bush were going to demobilize Colombia’s AUC why as some suggest is war criminal Carlos Castaño, former leader of the AUC in Israel? He may have been aided in his escape by the US government, even though Colin Powell declared the AUC a terrorist organization on September 10, 2001, and in spite of the fact that Castaño is wanted for extradition to the US on charges of cocaine trafficking.
Bush will instigate a coup and try and stop the proposed pipeline and future Colombian oil port through which China might receive Venezuelan oil that would have gone to the United States for this he needs the terrorist organization AUC.
And why if there’s another coup is it expected that Colombia will send troops at US insistence, possibly alongside US marines or Special Forces, or AUC units replete with Colombian soldiers?
Bush has vowed never to negotiate with terrorists "in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere," and told a campaign rally last week: "You can't talk sense to these people. You can't negotiate with them. You cannot hope for the best. We must engage these enemies around the world."
Not only is Bush lying again, he is doing more than negotiating he is making them our allies.
Background:
With firm US backing, however, Uribe will seek a second term in 2006 (constitutional niceties aside). The "peace process" with AUC paramilitaries-- which, along with the "bandit extermination" campaign, forms the centerpiece of Uribe's administration -- appears to have stalled for the time being, though some reports (narconews.com, eltiempo.com) suggest that war criminal Carlos Castaño, former leader of the AUC, is in Israel. He may have been aided in his escape by the US government, even though Colin Powell declared the AUC a terrorist organization on September 10, 2001, and in spite of the fact that Castaño is wanted for extradition to the US on charges of cocaine trafficking.
Along a border which was to have been militarized with forty-six new tanks that former president of Spain, José María Aznar, donated to Uribe, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez Frías faces the most rightwing, pro-US regime in South America, and if there's another coup before or after the August recall referendum, do not be surprised if Colombia sends troops at US insistence, possibly alongside US marines or Special Forces, or if AUC units, replete with Colombian soldiers, are deployed. After all, AUC troops were recently discovered on the ranch of a prominent anti-Castro Cuban in Venezuela; an incident which has yet to be clarified, but suggests a possible Miami connection between the rightwing Venezuelans, Colombians, and anti-Castro Cubans. #msg-3497568
In Colombia the US government also funds the 18th Brigade, apparently unconcerned that it has been accused of abuses against civilians and of cooperation with paramilitaries.
Last year, the US gave Colombia $99m to protect the pipeline, to be split between the 18th Brigade and a new mobile unit. President Bush also sent 60 US special forces personnel to Arauca to train the brigade. Given this involvement of the oil companies and the US government in the brigade's activities, perhaps they can explain something the Colombian government does not care to: how does it enhance the security of the people of Arauca when the army, directly or through its collaboration with paramilitary groups, targets health workers, trade unionists, teachers, journalists and human rights defenders and forcibly displaces indigenous and peasant communities who lived near the pipeline?
In neighboring Venezuela Chavez is preparing to shift exports to an increasingly oil-thirsty China, making Venezuela less dependent on U.S. petroleum sales. A deal signed on July 14, 2004, to build oil and gas pipelines between the Maracaibo Basin in Venezuela and the Caribbean and Pacific coasts in Colombia would enable Venezuela to ship petroleum to China without using the Panama Canal.
President Chavez stressed the importance of the proposed Colombian oil port. “We will continue selling oil and its derivatives to the United States, to Caribbean countries and South America, but there is a market that is very far from us because of a lack of interconnection, that is the Asian market. Imagine a Venezuelan supertanker sailing through the Caribbean and through the Atlantic, crossing the horn of Africa in order to find a route to far away China. China is very far that way but through Colombia, it’s not. Through Colombia it would be straight shot.” #msg-3583684
Given what is now happening in Colombia there is an excellent chance Bush will try and stop the proposed pipeline and future Colombian oil port through which China might receive Venezuelan oil that would have gone to the United States.
If the United States is okay with displacing, killing and abusing so many Colombians who happen to live near the present pipeline I look for a marked increase in violence and perhaps a full fledged war in order to stop the proposed oil and gas pipelines and the direct export route to China as planned by Chavez. #msg-3859133
-Am
U.S. May Help Demobilize 'Terrorist' Army in Colombia
Tuesday, August 24, 2004 2:14 p.m. ET
By Adam Entous and Arshad Mohammed
CRAWFORD, Texas/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration is considering whether it can provide money to help demobilize Colombia's largest far-right paramilitary army despite its official designation by Washington as a foreign terrorist organization, U.S. officials said on Tuesday.
The proposal faces political and legal hurdles as President Bush campaigns for re-election on his hard-line stance against terrorism.
Still, the effort has generated support within the State Department, and congressional sources interviewed this week said the U.S. Embassy in Colombia had asked the Justice Department whether U.S. taxpayer funding could legally be used for the demobilization of the outlawed United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, or AUC.
"We are considering how to support the government of Colombia's efforts to demobilize the AUC. No decision has been reached. ... We are mindful that we have to stay within certain legal and policy parameters," said a U.S. official who asked not to be named.
Proponents say the money would help bolster Colombia's talks to disarm the country's 20,000 paramilitary gunmen, members of right-wing militias funded by drug trafficking who kill guerrillas and anyone suspected of sympathizing with them.
Colombia has appealed for up to $150 million in international aid to pay for the demobilization effort. The process includes rehabilitation classes aimed at preventing the retired fighters from returning to crime.
Colombian's chief peace negotiator has estimated the cost of demobilizing each combatant at $7,285 (20 million Colombian pesos).
POLITICALLY RISKY FOR BUSH
The 40-year-old guerrilla war is the longest-running conflict in the Americas and claims thousands of lives a year. The paramilitaries are blamed for many of Colombia's worst human rights abuses.
But the proposal to use U.S. taxpayer funds to demobilize the AUC could run afoul of U.S. laws that prevent money from flowing to groups deemed terrorist organizations, prompting a review of the legal issues.
Under U.S. law, anyone who provides "material support or resources" to a foreign terrorist organization can be subject to fines and to a prison sentence of up to 15 years. If someone dies as a result, they can get life imprisonment.
The effort could also be politically risky for Bush in an election year. He has vowed never to negotiate with terrorists "in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere," and told a campaign rally last week: "You can't talk sense to these people. You can't negotiate with them. You cannot hope for the best. We must engage these enemies around the world."
A congressional aide briefed on the proposal summed up Bush's dilemma. "When is a former terrorist no longer a terrorist?.. And they (AUC leaders) are not just terrorists. They're drug dealers," the aide said.
In June, U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency Administrator Karen Tandy told Congress that the AUC is "inextricably linked to the drug trade," and cited recent indictments against its leaders.
Sources said it was unclear how much money could be involved in any demobilization deal and added it would depend on the number of fighters and could amount to up to hundreds of millions of dollars over several years.
The AUC said earlier this month that it would demobilize almost a third of its fighters -- three units totaling about 6,000 fighters -- after the Colombian government threatened to kick them out of national peace talks.
"The Colombians are going ahead with it no matter what, whether we give them money or not," a congressional source said.
The United States provides Colombia with about $700 million in mainly military aid each year, largely to combat the world's biggest cocaine trade. It has said in the past that it is "skeptical" about the AUC's desire for peace and has insisted it wants to extradite top AUC leaders for cocaine trafficking.
Market Data 
Markets 
AI
