An unacknowledged war: US troops, FARC-EP, Chavez and a repeated error
RenewAmerica (Toby Westerman): The United States is at war in Latin America -- or more properly -- nations and guerrilla armies are at war with the United States. Although under attack, and our citizens have been killed, there has been no acknowledgement by the US government or media that this nation is involved in a full-scale war. America has already lost lives in this war, and now the US government seems set to again commit an error which led to the deaths of hundreds, possibly thousands, of Americans in Vietnam.
After the pro-Marxist government of Rafael Correa government expelled the US from its base in Manta, Ecuador, the administration of US President Barack Obama committed the US military to operate out of at least seven Colombian military bases. Manta was an important center for the US campaign against the illegal drug trade in the region.
While the intent is to replace the anti-drug facility at Manta, the Obama administration has committed US military personnel to an anti-drug campaign within a nation which is fighting an ongoing 40-year civil war. American advisors have assisted the Colombian military for years, but the projected increase of US personnel raises the possibility of larger scale engagements between American and enemy combatants.
Unfortunately for US troops, the enemy are not merely for profit drug traffickers, but are ideologically committed revolutionaries attempting to overthrow the Colombian government.
In addition to the perilous situation US troops will be facing in the struggle with the Colombian drug traffickers/revolutionaries, the Obama administration is placing political restrictions on how the military is to conduct its operations.
A VIETNAM-ERA MISTAKE REPEATED?
According to a recent Spanish language report, the US ambassador to Colombia, William Brownfield, stated that US forces will not approach or cross any border into any of Colombia's neighbors without a prior bilateral agreement. As a result of this policy, US military personnel may be in hot pursuit of a narco-terror gang, but once the enemy approaches the border of one of Colombia's neighbors, the Americans will be forced to break off the chase. Brownfield's declaration was meant to counter charges from several Latin American nations that the US will use Colombia as a base for military expansion in the region, but it will also cost American lives.
US restrictions on military personnel will probably have a similar result in Colombia, because cross border raids and counter-raids have been an essential factor in the recent history of Colombia and its neighbors, and the pattern is very likely to continue. In Colombia, the largest guerrilla force -- and the one involved in drug trafficking -- is known by the initials FARC-EP, the Spanish initials for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia -- Popular Army, usually abbreviated<
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