CIA helps Colombians fight FARC

The Washington Post report that the CIA has been lending aid and hardware to Colombia against the bloody narco-terrorist organization Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). They began as Maoist guerrillas in the 60s (the Post calls them Marxists, but that would be ideologically incorrect), but morphed into a drug cartel of sorts until George W. Bush began lending support to the Colombian government as part of the Global War Against Terror.

The secret assistance, which also includes substantial eavesdropping help from the National Security Agency, is funded through a multibillion-dollar black budget. It is not a part of the public $9 billion package of mostly U.S. military aid called Plan Colombia, which began in 2000.

The previously undisclosed CIA program was authorized by President George W. Bush in the early 2000s and has continued under President Obama, according to U.S. military, intelligence and diplomatic officials. Most of those interviewed spoke on the condition of anonymity because the program is classified and ongoing.
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The covert program in Colombia provides two essential services to the nation’s battle against the FARC and a smaller insurgent group, the National Liberation Army (ELN): Real-time intelligence that allows Colombian forces to hunt down individual FARC leaders and, beginning in 2006, one particularly effective tool with which to kill them.

Of course, we’ve always suspected US involvement in operations there, but this is the first public confirmation. When I think of the war against terror, the war against FARC comes immediately to my mind behind al Qaeda. I’m impressed that the Obama Administration has continued the war against FARC. The main weapon against FARC leadership seems to be Paveway smart bombs, according to the article, and mirrors the way drones are being used in the Middle East – targeting leadership hoping to disrupt operations. The drone war against al Qaeda hasn’t worked all that well, I suspect this one won’t either. But whatever stacks terrorist bodies is cool with me.

Category: Terror War