No shock and awe, no Rambo and John Wayne was not au rendezvous.
The French press says that besides American advisers and trainers
the Columbians have some Israelis. The operation doesn't sound
American, so maybe the Israelis were involved. I suspect
is was Columbian most of the way, they learned to subvert
the revolutionaries. The last couple of months have showed
this already occurring. FARC is down to below 10,000 from
its high ot 20,000.
The US does pay the bills however, to the tune of $500 million
dollars a year to sup****t the Columbian military.
****
Old-fa****oned fake-out results in freedom for hostages
BOGOTA, Colombia (CNN) -- Government agents posing as rebels tricked a
gang
of armed desperados into handing over 15 hostages during a rendezvous deep
in Colombia's unforgiving jungle.
Gen. Mario Montoya leads freed hostages across the tarmac Wednesday at the
Bogota, Colombia, air****t.
The Colombian government's bloodless rescue of the hostages Wednesday was
the product of a perfectly executed ruse that depended on old-school spy
games rather than high-tech gadgetry.
Agents spent months worming their way into the Revolutionary Armed Forces
of Colombia, or FARC, an insurgent force that has waged war on the
Colombian
state for 40 years, Gen. Freddy Padilla de Leon told CNN.
The agents gained the rebels' trust and rose to the top of FARC's
leader****p council as well as a team assigned to guard the hostages.
When the time was ripe, the moles used the authority they'd gained within
the group to order the 15 hostages moved from three separate locations to
one central area, and the game was on. Watch how the operation went down
»
"We convinced the FARC that they were talking to those of their own,"
said
Gen. Mario Montoya of the Colombian army. "It was all human intelligence."
Once the hostages -- including former presidential candidate Ingrid
Betancourt and three American contractors -- were gathered, the agents
ordered a 90-mile march through the steamy jungle, Montoya said.
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Such relocations were not unusual for the hostages or the rebels, who
constantly move about to avoid detection by the Colombian military. Watch
what the FARC is all about »
Little did the rebels know that the military was about to pull off a
bait-and-switch that would leave them standing in a jungle clearing, not
realizing they'd just been hustled out of their most valuable assets. See
former hostages, officials exult »
The agents told their FARC comrades that an "international mission" --
such
as the Red Cross or a U.N. delegation -- was coming to visit the hostages,
Montoya said.
At the appointed hour, an unmarked white helicopter set down in the
jungle
along the trekkers' path. Colombian security forces posing as FARC rebels
jumped out, some wearing ****rts emblazoned with the likeness of
revolutionary icon Che Guevara. Background on FARC »
The helicopter crew told the 60 or so real rebels that the chopper was
going to ferry the hostages to the meeting with the "international
mission,"
Montoya said.
During their 22 minutes on the jungle floor, the government pilot and
co-pilot spoke in code with their colleagues, authorities said, using
phrases such as "Generators OK" that carried a secret meaning to the
security forces.
All 15 hostages were handcuffed and placed aboard the helicopter, along
with two of their guards, leaving the rest of the FARC detachment on the
ground.
Once the chopper was up and safely away from the landing zone, the fake
rebels persuaded the real ones aboard to hand them their weapons. Moments
later, both rebels were on the floor of the aircraft, cuffed and
blindfolded
by their erstwhile comrades, Betancourt said. Watch Betancourt describe
her
'miracle' »
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