Category: National Security

Millions of folks are on the move around the world to protest against Colombia’s FARC rebels and their policy of hostage taking and drug dealing. Ingrid Betancourt, the French-Colombian hostage freed in a daring military rescue earlier this month, will lead protests in Paris. Protests are planned in over 40 cities.

Of course it may fall on deaf ears. So many groups and organizations hear only what they want to hear, and continue to receive support from those of an ideological bent or with a financial interest (drug dealers). These enablers are the ones that need to be ferreted out if FARC is to ever be disbanded and peace return.

]]>

In an interview that I have to describe as ‘less than reassuring’, DC’s Director of Homeland Security puts his political spin and utilize years of government ’speak’ to assure residents of DC that there will be chaos when a dirty nuke goes off in DC. Following a semi-disaster day last month when a power substation failure shut off traffic lights, a fire broke out in a Metro station and massive gridlock stymied D.C. police and emergency crews, Darrell Darnell talks about the agency’s pathetic lack of services response.

He even offers a website where you can sign up to receive electronic communications after the nuclear bomb goes up (yea, cause my Blackberry is hardened against EMP–how about yours?). DC residents have already been given their evacuation routes in a piece of paper strategically placed in the plastic package full of ads for Best Buy, carwash services, coupon clippings and all the other junk that 99% of DC residents throw out instantly into the trash when it arrives in the Sunday paper.

Anyway, read the article. The guy’s resume looks good doing a lot of homeland security consulting but this interview just made me think ‘Joe Forehead politician’ in charge. I’d much rather have some cussing and swearing former fire chief who knows all the cops, fireman, power repair guys by first name because he hangs out with them in a bar during off hours than a guy who looks good on paper.

All I can say is a) thank god I’m no longer living in DC, b) that I have a gun, and c) that I have an abundant food and water source not requiring government assistance (eventhough I hate fishing).

]]>

The MRAP was an interesting, almost World War II-era emergency procurement program. Utilizing standard compoents and somewhat standard parts, multiple manufacturers rushed to deliver these mine-resistant vehicles to the conflict area without necessarily crossing all the t’s and dotting the i’s in the paperwork.

But now that car bombs and IEDs are down as much as 80% in Iraq, the paperwork is starting to catch up. The GAO is raising concerns about maintenance costs and budget overruns in this ‘emergency’ funding program. This comes as Congress is considering a version 2 of the MRAP, perhaps this time through the normal budgetary channels.

]]>

John-Pierre Gontard, rumored to be the ‘leaker’ in the FARC / Betancourt ransom story, finds himself the subject of a story in the German press that does not paint him, or Switzerland, in a good light. The article is based on some of the emails captured from FARC lapotps and points out how Switzerland was less than a neutral mediator in the dispute.

Switzerland has played a central role in the Colombian hostage crisis as a supposedly “neutral” mediator. But the e-mail correspondence of the FARC, extracts from which are available to Die Weltwoche, shows that a solution of the hostage crisis was never in fact a priority for the FARC. The “negotiations” as such, which provided an international stage for the militarily beleaguered guerilla, were from the start an end in themselves for the FARC. The Swiss Department of Foreign Affairs (EDA), under the direction of Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey, took on the role of helpful courier in the cynical game of poker being played by the guerilla and often neglected to take even the slightest distance from the FARC extortionists.

The article later notes that Gontard was offering political advice to the FARC and how to deal with the US captives:

According to the report, the professor also offered his services to Reyes as strategy advisor in the poker game surrounding the hostages. The three Americans that the FARC have likewise taken captive are, according to Gontard, “definitely members of the CIA, the governments represented by him have no interest in them.” On Reyes’s account, Gontard advises him, nonetheless, not to kill the three Americans and to “preserve them in very good condition, since they could still be very useful sometime in the future.” The Swiss professor reportedly tells Reyes that a FARC demand for one hundred million dollars in exchange for a six month ceasefire is realistic. And verbatim: “He says that Ingrid is a jewel [una joya] in the hands of the FARC, because she is very important for the French government.”

Finally, the German press slams Gontard and the ransom story:

The false report concerning a supposed ransom payment originated from his milieu. With it, Swiss diplomacy has lost its last trace of credibility.

It is also worth noting that no additional information regarding a ‘ransom’ has been discovered by any media since the initial claims. Reading through the stories that have been published, they are most a rehash of the original rumor, or slight (and unprovable) theories surrounding the story.

Normally when you have a ’scandal’ story it gets people to digging, but all that has been dug up since the initial press release is, well, nothing. Slightly odd. One would hope even the ‘truther’ types would come up with some explanation that was at least interesting. We’re still waiting for the facts.

Counterterrorism blog has more on this and the Switzerland diplomatic ‘dance with the devil’ policies around the world.

]]>

Shades of some LZ’s in Vietnam…

U.S. forces abandoned the outpost in northeastern Afghanistan where nine American soldiers were killed in a heavy attack by insurgents three days ago, NATO officials said Wednesday.

The withdrawal handed a propaganda victory to the Taliban, and insurgents were quick to move into the village of Wanat beside the abandoned outpost, Afghan officials said. Insurgent fighters nearly overran the barely-built outpost in a dawn raid on Sunday, inflicting the biggest single loss of life for United States forces in Afghanistan since 2005….

A small force of only 45 American soldiers and 25 Afghans had occupied the Wanat outpost for just a few days before the attack Sunday. Outnumbered by militants they were nearly overrun and fought a four-hour pitched battle before the Taliban were repelled. Nine American soldiers were killed and 15 wounded. Four Afghans soldiers were also wounded

To be fair, it wasn’t a major base and US troops didn’t have the numbers they needed. The fact that they were able to hold off a numerically superior force is a testament to their abilities and the power of joint warfighting (i.e. aircraft and helicopters balancing out the equation).

]]>