Fast and Furious Goes South

I am looking at two different reports sourcing off the same newspaper: the El Tiempo.  Fast and Furious was supposed to allow US government agents to trace the flow of weapons into drug cartel hands in Mexico.  What has resulted, as previously documented, was some 2,000 weapons of various types vanishing into the badlands of northern Mexico.  Along with the deaths of 300+ Mexican citizens and two US agents - Brian Terry and Jaime Zapata.

The old saying is a broke clock is right two times a day.  In this case, it seems the BATF F&F clock was right once.  Two long arms and 14 Five-seven pistols have been recovered in an interesting locale.  In the city of Medellin Colombia in fact.  During a raid of the drug cartel that replaced Pablo Escobar's in fact.  A cartel just as violent as Pablo's.   But F&F was never aimed at the Ofcina de Envigado, it was aimed at the Mexican drug cartels like the Sianola Cartel.

But we will never hear anything about this from the mainstream media.  For example: the DoJ IG is supposed to report to Congress on September 19th on Fast & Furious.  Notice there is nothing there yet.  However it seems CNN has gotten the 'dope' on the matter and exonerates Eric Holder and his band of law breakers, you see it was those ATF agents in Arizona who are at fault for going rouge.  If CNN's anonymous leakers are correct, the IG is going to try and whitewash away the culpability of Holder and his crew.

While looking this information up, stumbled across what seems to be a DEA caused My Lai massacre in Honduras.  In the town of Ahuras, a DEA agent called for air support after claiming being under fire.  As a result four people, including a pregnant woman, were killed.  It seems the agent was not assisting the locals, but was leading the mission.

On Leadership

Something to ponder:

Iosef Stalin was a Failed seminarian.
Fidel Castro was a Failed major league pitcher.
Hugo Chavez was a Failed coup plotter.
Adolph Hitler was a Failed artist.
Joseph Goebbels was a Failed chicken farmer.

Notice what they all have in common?

Kennedy Blarney

The most dysfunctional family in the United States continues to garner media coverage.  How dysfunctional you may ask?  Psychology Today put together a list of the top seven Kennedy sex scandals.  Go read them, it is shocking.  Then there was Ted Kennedy trying to collaborate with the USSR to destroy Ronald Reagan. But old Ted can justly claim he was just following in the family tradition, his father Joesph Kennedy Sr was a real piece of work in his rampant hatred of the Jews and love of German National Socialism.  Kennedy, after fleeing London as the Blitz petered out, was sacked by Roosevelt and replaced as Ambassador to the Court of St. James by John Winant.

That the Kennedy family continues to garner media coverage and thought to be representative of America can only be ascribed to the pushing of a false narrative.  It is a bundled package of smaller lies that hide behind the tragic assassination of John F. Kennedy in Dallas, TX in 1963.  To point out all the failings and outright crimes of the Kennedy family is to endure the ceaseless tirade of being unfair to the slain President.  As in do you have no decency?  History cares not for decency when it records a leader's achievements and failures, Kennedy's greatest failure at the Bay of Pigs lead directly to the Cuban Missile Crisis because the USSR read Kennedy as weak after that failed invasion.  That is why the world almost vanished under multiple mushroom clouds.  Daley Plaza can't cover that up.

So where am I going with this recitation of the Kennedy family crimes?  Just the latest lambasting from the Kennedy Holier Than Thou pulpit.  Robert Kennedy Jr, being a Kennedy, is no stranger to the spotlight.  Oddly three days after filing divorce papers on his second wife, she was arrested on a DUI.  He campaigned for Rep. Dennis Kucinich in that man's losing primary run, Kucinich lost to fellow Democrat Mary Kaptur and he was not graceful in his concession speech.  Kennedy has also harangued about the danger of mercury in vaccines causing Autism.  Notice how many corrections are at the end of the article, including a gross inflation of a percentage.  For a less strident discussion, the FDA has a good precis including an incident in Australia in 1928 that gave rise to requiring a preservative in vaccines, out of 21 inoculated 12 died.

Now that I have established Robert Kennedy Jr's questionable track record in the public and private square that shows he lives in a large glass house, here is his latest cheap shot of record.  Because Sen. Infoe is a skeptic and critic of man-made global warming, Robert Kennedy Tweeted a comment that would get Imus suspended and Carbonite to quit Rush.  He called Sen. Infoe a prostitute in the employ of the oil companies.  That is really discussing the heart of the matter there Robert, smear your opponent.  Did you call Joseph P. Kennedy II a dictator's prostitute when he got cheap heating oil from Hugo Chavez of Venezuela?  I bet you didn't. 

Economic Monkeywrench

Democratic candidate Obama promised energy prices would rise when he stumped to become president. It seems he is delivering on that promise, one campaign promise kept.

Since Obama has entered office, the price of a gallon of gas has risen by more than $1. The explosion last year of the British Petroleum rig in the Gulf of Mexico that killed 11 seems to have presented the President and his advisors an opportunity. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar has imposed a moratorium on oil exploration in the Gulf of Mexico, even though a federal judge has ruled Salazar overstepped himself. As a result of all this tug of war generated uncertainty, the number of operating rigs has dropped with devestating economic consequences to states already reeling from the BP oil spill. When Sen. Vitter[R-LA] requested how many leases have been issued, he received two different answers. The Department of Justice, in another display of dishonesty - Fast&Furious, quoted a high number of leases but when Sen. Vitter got Salazar before him in sworn testimony the number was far lower.

Far to the north, our Canadian friends and ally in Afghanistan is offering to sell us oil. Yes it is oil developed from tar sands and needs to be processed, but its oil that does not need to be shipped from repressive countries like Venezuela and Saudi Arabia. Help our neighbor to the north seems to make more sense than funding Chavez's quest to conquer South America or the House of Saud keeping women repressed. But it seems some in the US do not want this oil because, get this, the process to extract oil releases more carbon dioxide. It seems the New York Times would prefer Canada to sell that oil to the Peoples Republic of China, those paragons of air pollution and political oppression, instead of allowing it in the United States. All because of extra carbon dioxide that I am sure the forests of Canada would love to turn into oxygen while growing bigger. The second reason the New York Times trots out, fear of oil spills, is equally ludicrous since the Trans-Alaska pipeline in its decades of production has suffered few spills and one of those due to a hunter shooting the pipeline. In fact the oil pipeline has become a microclime that is warmer than surrounding areas and hence wildlife has flourished.

I never thought I would say this, but bring back Jimmy Carter. At least he was for making the United States energy independent when he was President. That included developing the abundant supply of oil shale found in Ken Salazar's old stomping grounds of Colorado. Though Salazar and environmentalists are trying to prevent oil shale from being commercially viable. Do I want to know what they think a fair royalty rate is? Probably so high it renders oil shale non-viable even after adjsuting for inflation. Imagine that.

Peru at the Crossroads

While many people focus on being out of work and seeing the value of their house devolve to junk bond status, I want to take a look at another country. This weekend the country of Peru is having Presidential elections this Sunday. Who is elected will have a profound impact upon Peru, its people, and its economy.

On one side is Keiko Fujimori, age 36, who is the favorite of the business community. On the other side is Ollanta Humala, a former army commander who tried to lead a coup against Alberto Fujimori, a former president of Peru now in jail and Keiko's father.

If you are still inclined to vote for a military strongman who tried to subvert democracy, then you will probably vote for Stalin without batting an eye. For those who are still sitting on the fence about Humala, ponder this little factoid - he has vowed to prudently manage the economy. Manage the economy? Keiko's campaign assertions that Ollanta will roll back economic reforms seem well founded. We have seen how well the USSR managed its economy, into economic and environmental ruin. We are seeing the same destruction occuring over in Venezuela under Hugo Chavez, who is friends with Ollanta Humala.

One supposedly brillant conservative, because of his personal animus with Alberto Fujimori has come out in support of Ollanta Humala. Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa, who's Nobel is in literature, supports Humala because he sees Fujiko as a puppet for her father's aides. Plus Alberto Fujimori beat Varga Llosa in 1990 for the Presidency of Peru - that probably did wonders to his Nobel ego. This is an amazing flip-flop since Llosa called Humala a Chavez disciple a mere five years ago.

News articles.
Peru Faces Divisive Election.
Leftist Peru Candidate Dogged by Doubts.

Thy Own Words Betray

To make this weekend more exciting, the FBI has executed multiple search warrants on various anti-war protesters. This includes Meredith Aby of the Anti-War Committee in Minneapolis, MN.

What is the Anti-War Committee? According to Wiki, lol, this group started out as a chapter of the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES). As the link notes, CISPES worked with the communist guerilla forces in El Salvador and opposes free trade in Central America. So it should be no shock that these people love fellow communists or socialists like the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine of which the groups is accused of associating with. The PFLP's most infamous alumi is Carlos the Jackal, the man who took hostage 11 OPEC ministers in Vienna.

Here are Ms. Aby's interview about her group's travel to the Palestinian areas.
Aby said Anti-War Committee members sometimes engage in “political accompaniment work,” where they stay with activists “to keep them from being abducted or bombed” by authorities.

In other words, Ms. Aby and her fellow travellers were willing human shields to prevent Israeli autorities from detaining suspected criminals/terrorists who would have been tried in Israeli courts.

As the title I selected for this post states, their own words convict them of the crimes the search warrants mention. These people are not against all war, just any military action the United States carries out. I would put them under the defintion of giving aid and comfort to the enemy.

Murder Inc. - Venezuela

Outgoing Miss Universe Stephania Fernandez waves the pre-Chavez Venezuelan flag in Las Vegas. Many are taking this as a sign of protest against Chavez and his totalitarian government, especially people inside Venezuela. Photo - Reuters.

Why is everyone upset with the Chavez run government? Maybe because the murder rate in the capital Caracas has skyrocketed from 34 deaths per 100,000 via gun violence in 2007 to the staggering rate of 233 deaths per 100,000 now.

Investors Business Daily article linked above argues this spiralling death rate is part of Chavez's plan to subjugate the country under his iron fist. It has happened before in history. If you can afford to hire thugs to do nothing but intimidate people; the average person who needs to work and feed the family will leave the political scene to tend to those needs while the thugs stay. So the employer of the thugs wins. Ask Lenin. Though in Chavez's case it seems he has outsourced the killing of people to more common street gangs.

What is even more troubling in the IBD article is how deeply FARC and other narco-terrorists have wormed their way into Chavez's government. What a cheery thought it would be for New York City to find its whole Port Authority suborned by organized crime. That is what is being reported in Venezuela. So the writer of the IBD article wonders how long will Chavez stay in power with this kind of rot going on.

To bolster the argument/contention from Colombia that Venezuela does harbor narco-terrorists like FARC comes this article. My Spanish is not the best but the map is pretty telling. Pin-pointing camps on the Venezuelan side of the Venezuelan-Colombian border like 1,500 FARC thugs along with where various drug kingpins might be found.

It would be the ultimate irony if Chavez is ousted not by Colombia or a concerted effort from the OAS, but from the inside. By the narco-terrorists who want to ensure their sanctuary does not vanish on them. Sometimes the enemy of your enemy is also your enemy.

FARC-Hugo

The South American tin-pot dictator is at it again it seems. As his economy contracts another 3% and his neighbor Colombia's expands by 2.7%, Chavismo would seem to be edging closer and closer to collapse. Further highlighting differences between the two countries, Colombia just had a successful election and transition of power from Uribe to Santos. Only rose-coloured progressives could believe the last election in Venezuela was as free as what Colombia just experienced. And there is still the matter before the Organization of American States where Colombia is accusing Venezuela of harboring the terrorists of FARC. Naturally Chavez is denying this and has broken off diplomatic relations with Colombia over these charges. But we can't forget the raid into Ecuador against the FARC that netted three laptops that Interpol says has untampered evidence of FARC/Venezuelan cooperation, death of a FARC leader, and the removal of Mexican fellow-travellers from the FARC order of battle. Or the death of a Colombian drug lord who seemed to have sanctuary in Venezuela. So there is evidence that Chavez has tampered with the internal affairs of a neighboring country.

Will this lead to war? In the past the answer has been no. Even though Chavez has blustered, called George Bush a devil, and generally frothed at the mouth over alleged Yanqui Imperialism; he has never crossed the line and moved against Colombia. Another thing entering the equation is Colombia's military is more combat experienced, better equipped, and better trained than Chavez's, even though Venezuela has traded billions of dollars in oil to Cuba to get weapons. Hopefully the United States continues to stand firm with its long-standing ally of Colombia against the covetous gaze and lustful longings of Chavez for a Greater Venezuela with him in charge.

Actually to think of Chavez as brave and a bold leader is to laugh. We must remember when Chavez first tried to seize power in Venezuela, the harbinger of Chavismo cowered under a table in the library and wet himself. Too bad the then democratic country of Venezuela and its institutions of justice spared Chavez's life. All he did was plot again and succeed this time, much to the detriment of his own country and everyone around him. Lets hope the intrinsic coward's heart that beats in that large chest of bluster again blinks and the tensions lessen.

Reckless Conceit

Thank you New York Times for giving the whole world Obama's new strategy for nuclear weapons. The Obama's Doctrine for Nuclear Weapons is - "We really really won't use them unless my arugula is nuked."

On to the dissection shall we?
To set an example, the new strategy renounces the development of any new nuclear weapons, overruling the initial position of his own defense secretary. As Russia modernizes its nuclear arsenal and such fun countries as North Korea and Iran work on nuclear missiles, Obama wants to pull the plug on the US nuclear weapons manufacturing capability. And Obama wants to reduce the US arsenal of aging weapons while Russia will merely scrap its oldest weapons to meet the treaty requirements of the treaty that is supposed to be signed in Prague.

It eliminates much of the ambiguity that has deliberately existed in American nuclear policy since the opening days of the Cold War. For the first time, the United States is explicitly committing not to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear states that are in compliance with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, even if they attacked the United States with biological or chemical weapons, or launched a crippling cyberattack. What ambiguity? US policy has always been if you use a chemical agent or a bio-agent against the US, then the US treats it as a nuclear device and proceeds to nuke the offender. Now Obama is going, well we wont nuke you if you use Sarin gas or anthrax on us, unless you really are mean to us. And why bring in cyber terrorism? So if a PRC hacker college sucks dry Obama's Blackberry, Obama will nuke Beijing? That right there introduces dangerous uncertainty.

Those threats, he argued, could be deterred with “a series of graded options” -- a combination of old and newly designed conventional weapons. Satayana was right, those who fail to learn are doomed to repeat history. Graduated response worked so well for Sec of Defense Robert McNamara in prosecuting the Vietnam war didn't it? For those who think Vietnam is not important because it happened before they were born, McNamara's strategy allowed North Vietnam defenses to keep pace with increases in American military attacks, resulting in a longer war with far more casualties. But Obama thinks it will work with nuclear weapons now.

Mr. Obama’s plans to fly to Prague to sign a new arms control agreement with Russia on Thursday and then next week will host 47 world leaders in Washington for a summit on nuclear security. The London and Washington Naval Treaties after World War One worked so well after all. Or the treaty between the US and USSR on biological weapons, the US destroyed its stockpiles but the USSR kept at it. Treaties work when enforcement has consequences. I do not see North Korea, Iran, or Venezuela being impressed by the Obama Administration's determination.

“I’m not going to parse that right now,” he said, sitting in his office as children played on the South Lawn of the White House during a day-long Easter Egg roll. However, he cited the example of North Korea, whose nuclear capabilities were unclear until it conducted a test in 2006, which it followed with a second shortly after Mr. Obama took office. Lets face it, containment of North Korea was a failure of the Clinton and Bush administrations. But the way I read this statement and its following paragraph of Obama's, it seems our President is okay with Iran going nuclear. These are dangerous times and the nuclear clock I think has moved one more minute closer to midnight with this misguided revamping. History will judge, may we all live to see that judgement.

L'chaim Israel.

Unfit for Command

Many applied that term to Sen. John F. Kerry when he ran in 2004 against President George Bush. The sobriquet was aimed at his narcissistic personality that even as a young man he created a legend more heroic than what was reality. It seems the term was applied to the wrong person. It should be applied to Barack Hussein Obama instead.

How else to explain the happenings since the inauguration that was supposed to bridge the gap between political divides, why even to start healing the planet we all live on. How else indeed.

I have mentioned previous snubbings of close allies and coddling of enemies. This proclivity has continued with bullying of Israel to stop all settlement activity, even trying to stop the growth of existing settlements to accommodate population growth. Honduras continues to be bullied for defending its democracy. Colombia still awaits what should be a piece of landmark legislation that could finally heal the wounds between that country and the US, a free trade agreement that languishes as President Obama speaks softly to Chavez of Venezuela. And in dealings with Iran, the diplomats might as well be reading from menus as they rehash the same points over and over again, meanwhile an Iran that kills its citizens and puts in as Minister of Defense a man wanted for the bombing of a synagogue in Argentina rushes forward to embrace the atomic bomb. Meanwhile it seems Iraq is sliding backwards and Afghanistan is in need of a surge that Obama's allies in Congres seem unwilling to think about.

On the economic front, we see a man who operates in an environment devoid of any connection to reality. Even as the Peoples Republic of China is understandably worried, Obama's Treasury keeps piling on debt while printing more money which devalues its holdings in US dollars. This past Friday, the Obama Administration added another bone of contention between the US and the PRC by imposing a tariff upon tires imported to the US to protect a union that supported his candidacy. What Obama is risking is a trade war and possible sanctions if this is brought before the WTO and the WTO rules against the US.

These two disagreements with the PRC could very well boil over onto the diplomatic front. Obama has touted himself as the man to heal the breaches the previous administration has created. Obama needs the PRC on his side in dealings with a nuclear North Korea that is in the middle of a power transition. Then there is the matter of a nuclear Iran. The PRC sits on the UN Security Council and has a veto vote and on Sept. 24th when Obama heads the Security Council and asks for help with imposing more sanctions upon Iran. The PRC can veto any such sanctions, giving Obama a diplomatic smack down. Some healing right?

All of this stems from Obama being unable to actually lead. To lead risks failure and Obama is very much adverse to public failure. So he stumbles into failures and then tries to blame someone else. Here it is September and Obama was sworn in at the end of January, but he still blames President Bush every time he can. When it comes to criminal conduct in his appointees, it is always someone else who failed to vette the person properly. On the Stimulus bill, the Waxman-Markey Bill, and the various flavours of health care overhaul the Democrats have crafted; Obama has never sent to Congress what he would like in these bills, he has let Congress run wild and craft these legislative initiatives. When thinking about it, Obama is a classic politician. He wants his name attached to something when its a success, but will deny ever being near something that is a failure - ask Rev. Wright or Van Jones.

In the history of the English people, Ethelred the Unready is an obscure footnote in their long illustrious history that they would prefer to forget. Meanwhile William the Conqueror has had many books written about his accomplishments as a leader. I have a feeling we have the former in the White House instead of the later.

Obama the Lesser

Well we can see how President Obama's apology tour of Latin America has affected the perception of the United States down there. We just have to look at the drama around Honduras' internal affairs. Well if it was Iran, it would be internal affairs.

Both Hugo Chavez and President Obama want the same thing. Proto-Marxist and now ousted President Zelaya of Honduras back as the leader of that country. As negotiations continue in Costa Rica to resolve the crisis, the Zelaya buddy and printing press for the illegal ballots Hugo Chavez does his best to swagger and steal the spotlight.

He is blasting the United States for being timid. He wants the US to recall its ambassador, impose economic sanctions, and even use the US military forces who have been training with the Hondurans to do 'something.' This gives Chavez cover for his failure to invade Honduras, as he has promised, to reinstate Zelaya. He can now turn to the rest of Central and South America and say "I showed solidarity with Zelaya and argued for his forceful return. If the interfering and imperial United States could do nothing because President Obama is fearful and blocked any such forceful action, then how could I do anything." Factor in President Obama's worldwide tour to reset US relations with various countries which is being seen as 'I do humbly apologise for the United States being such a powerful nation.' and many will believe him and Chavez becomes a greater statesman for the region as the US influence becomes weaker.

Obama is proving to be a weak horse on the world stage and those with no honorable intentions are sharpening their knives because they see the United States as weak as a logical corollary. Instead of Alinksy, Obama should have read Nicolai Machiavelli.

Amatuer in Charge

Not even a month and the image of Barack Obama as President has become much clearer. Unfortunately, what he is projecting is not Mr. World Leader but more like a mongrel cur begging for attention.

The first clue came when he signed the Executive Order promising to close Gitmo in a year. He had no clue what the plan was for dealing with the prisoners after the closing nor did his advisors, yet he still signed the thing.

When he asked other countries to house some of the prisoners when Gitmo closes, the answers were illuminating. France only wants the non-dangerous ones, not surprising since their dangerous ones are burning cars. Italy flatly said no since there are no Italians incarcerated.

While France and Italy were closing their doors to the Obama overture about Gitmo. Obama himself was busy barricading a door that has stood open for more than half a century symbolizing steadfast alliance. The President has managed to annoy our long time ally the United Kingdom with just one action. Without prompting from Britain, he cavalierly returned to the UK a bust of Sir Winston Churchill that has been in the Oval Office since 9/11 when it was loaned to the United States. Not sure what to do with this unasked return, the bust now resides in the UK ambassador’s office.

He spent much of the campaign advocating the invasion of Pakistan. Now the country is unraveling. So it comes as no surprise when President Obama asked Pakistan to keep the father of the Pakistan atomic bomb A.Q. Khan in prison least he pass more nuclear secrets to North Korea or Iran, Pakistan let him go free.

His first interview with a foreign news service was with Al-Jazeera. When his pre-written speech was parsed for meaning, it was very simplistic. He basically told the radical Islamic world to give him a chance to show how nice he can be to them.

The new U.S ambassador to the U.N. just apologized to the likes of Libya and Cuba for not being nice to their countries under the Bush administration. Meanwhile they sent praise to Venezuela for the people striking down term limits so Hugo Chavez can try to become despot for life.

Vice President Biden went to Munich to meet with European allies and Iran to try and get Iran to give up its nuclear ambitions. Instead Iran launches a satellite and proceeds ahead to becoming a regional nuclear superpower.

The piece de la resistance in lap-doggery has to be the newly enacted stimulus bill. When one wades through the 1,000+ pages of it, this size rivals that of the still stalled EU Constitution when collated, one does not see President Obama’s fingerprints on it. With all the little earmarks and special allocations, one sees the greedy and grasping claws of Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Sen. Harry Reid, and their Congressional allies on it. But like a well trained circus act, he signed it.

Oh FARC! Its True!

Venezuela is a state sponsor of terrorism according to Interpol. The international police organization has ruled the files on the laptops recovered from Colombia's raid into Ecuador have not been tampered with. President Hugo Chavez's government has been more than a vocal supporter of the outlaw terrorist group FARC it seems.

More than a dozen internal rebel messages detail several years of close cooperation between top Venezuelan and FARC officials, including rebel training facilities on Venezuelan soil and a meeting inside Venezuela's equivalent of the Pentagon.

The report chides Colombia for some breaches of accepted computer forensics, which I expect the slobbering Chavez supporters to latch onto in a vain attempt to keep denying a reality as obvious as the colour of the sky, but goes on to say nothing contained on the three laptops, external drives, and USB drives was tampered with.

How much data was recovered from this raid that saw one of FARC's chief killers killed?

The drives contained a vast trove of information — 610 gigabytes of data including 210,888 images, 37,872 written documents, 22,481 Web pages, 10,537 sound and video files, 7,989 email addresses and 452 spreadsheets, Interpol said. Ten Interpol computers ran nonstop for two weeks to crack the 983 files that were encrypted, Noble said.

So expect even more revelations to emerge that will probably shock and embarrass many people worldwide as they are exposed as terrorism supporters. Almost 8,000 email addresses to run through. And I have to wonder if those 983 encrypted files have more bombshells like the 60 pounds of depleted uranium deal. Not to mention safe house locations and bank account information.

I find it interesting in the INTERPOL press release, they offered to meet with Ecuador and Venezuela twice and since the press release fails to mention any positive response, one is forced to conclude their offer has been rebuffed by both countries. Now who are the outlaws in this incident again?

Obama's Secretary of State

I guess with Sen. Clinton's very solid win in Pennsylvania, the Obama camp decided they needed some good PR. Preferably foreign policy PR to buff up Obama's very thin resume in that area. So zooming off to bolster the candidacy he has endorsed, the Governor of New Mexico Bill Richardson has gone off shore to foreign climes.

Where did Richardson go in search of boosting Sen. Obama's wafer thin foreign policy resume? Was it Colombia? Was it Poland? Or maybe Taiwan? Nope, none of the above. Taking a page from Jimmy Carter, we find Bill Richardson in Caracas Venezuela and Hugo Chavez.

Why is Bill there? He is there to try and help restart the process of freeing hostages. What hostages? Why some of the 700+ being held in crude prisons in Colombia by FARC, those wonderful Communist revolutionaries who have sunk to kidnapping for profit. Which of these hostages? To score points back home, the three American contractors that FARC took captive in 2003 when their helicopter went down in FARC territory. Though the name of Ingrid Betancourt is also trotted out, the French have so far failed to wrangle her release from FARC. Make no mistake, Richardson's mission is to free those three Americans to help Obama's quest.

How come the US has not negotiated with terrorists? Policy, the US does not negotiate with hostage takers for the well founded fear of encouraging these thugs of kidnapping more Americans. One has to look at Mexico City where kidnappings are out of control, security services and armored vehicles are in high demand, and ransom is always paid to the kidnappers. Follow the money as they say. Which is also why FARC has taken to kidnapping, its where the money is for their revolution. Even though it has alienated the populace against FARC. This good will could be regained if FARC stopped kidnapping people, but with their financial links to Venezuela exposed by Colombia's raid into Ecuador plus the earlier drying up of Communist support when the USSR vanished, they need the money even more.

Do we need another Jimmy Carter conducting foreign policy for the United States? Someone carrying out lone wolf diplomacy to bolster the image of a hopeful Presidential candidate? My answer is no. Richardson is playing into the hands of Chavez who has recently vowed that his mission is overthrow the American idea of capitalism. This one more chance to poke that devil Yanqui George Bush in the eye by Chavez if he gets FARC to cooperate and release some hostages. And there is Bill Richardson shaking hands and talking to this guy.

Down South America Way

Good news for the countries of Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela. At a meeting of nations in Santo Domingo, Republica Dominicana they have decided to call things off and bury the hatchets. No word on where those hatches got buried. But for tens of thousands of people in the affected countries, I bet a huge sigh of relief was heard.

Lets hope Ecuador better secures its border to prevent FARC from using their sovereign terroritory to launch more attacks, kidnappings, or drug smuggling operations. Same goes with Venezuela and their 1300 mile border with Colombia. And just perhaps both these countries will work more seriously with Colombia to bring to heel these drug smuggling kidnappers so more people like Ms. Betancourt do not have to spend years denied their freedom wondering when they will be summarily executed.

Macabre postscript, it seems FARC has lost another leader. This one was done in by his own bodyguard who then proceeded to cut off a hand to deliver to Army officials as bonafides the thug was dead.

And in the 'It Sucks to be a Terror Tourist' department, it seems the Mexican citizens who were killed along with Reyes were visiting his rebel camp after attending a socialists meeting in Quito. Hey Correa, if Reyes' camp was on the Tourmap of the FARC, how come your military and police missed it?

Is The Fuse Lit?

Whether Colombia will suffer war it seems lays in the hands of Hugo Chavez's Venezuela. Not in Colombia or Ecuador. What a scary thought.

Even as the Organization of American States dispatches investigators to the site of Colombia's attack with the blessing of Ecuador and Colombia, it seems Chavez is still rushing troops to his 1300 mile border with Colombia to 'protect' his country.

The OAS investigation can be the catalyst towards resolving Colombia's violation of Ecuadoran sovereignty in pursuit of FARC terrorists in a way both countries can agree to. Colombia has not rushed any new troops to its borders in an obvious attempt to not escalate the matter. Ecuador has accepted the investigation. So why is Chavez still rattling his saber?

Could it be there is some truth to the allegations Chavez has funneled $300 million to a group of murdering kidnappers called FARC? If Reyes' laptop does have such evidence and experts determine the evidence is genuine, then it becomes Chavez who is the one truly meddling in other countries' internal affairs. The hero of the Bolivarian Revolution will be proven to be a greater imperialist than he accuses President Bush and President Uribe of being.

There will be many who will insist the evidence was planted or manufactured by Chavez's enemies. This will help Chavez in the short run as people will rally around him. But how long can he keep a whole country in the grip of invasion fear when this country has already rejected his bid to be President for life, a country that is suffering food shortages, and a country that has alienated its biggest local trading partner - Colombia. Which means Chavez' time just maybe running out and this may cause Chavez to launch an attack in an attempt to keep himself in power.

Will Chavez really launch a war? It all depends upon the Venezuelan military that forced Chavez not to rig the elections and accept his defeat. A military that Chavez taught it could mutiny and overthrow the government. A military that seems to have a will not totally in step with Chavez. The ten battalions along the Colombia border are there now, but will they attack? I hope and pray that uncertainty will keep Chavez from doing something truly stupid that many people will regret for years to come.

Caracas Crash?

Seems things are getting a bit difficult in the beautiful country of Venezuela. Even as the denziens of the barrios voice their love of Hugo Chavez, his hosanas might soon be coming to an abrupt and perhaps bloody end.

The promises of a bountiful future under Chavez's leadership has lead to some interesting results. As any serious student of what nationalization does to a country's economy could have predicted, so it goes in Venezuela as the government raids private property to seize staples.

As Reuters reports: CARACAS, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Shoppers in oil-rich Venezuela often can't find basic food items in stores but the government of President Hugo Chavez on Sunday turned up a huge stash of milk and chicken in a private health clinic.
Inspectors from the consumer protection agency Indecu found the shelves of the upscale Caracas Policlinica Metropolitana stocked with half a tonne of milk and a similar amount of chicken.

Meanwhile it is becoming more and more obvious that Chavez's government is meddling in the internal affairs of Colombia. How obvious? How about one FARC leader, Luz Dari Conde Rubio, caputred along the Venezuelan border. Rubio lead the team that captured the three Americans when their plane crashed so just perhaps these three men can finally be rescued. Rubio, like much of FARC, was also deeply involved in the cocaine trade. Speaking of cocaine, its strange that one of Colombia's top drug lords met his untimely demise in Venezuela, but that is what happened to Wilber Varela.

For a group who's aim was to replace the existing government of Colombia with a Communist one, FARC has instead become a tool of the drug lords. Plus running a kindapping for ransom ring that just resulted in five FARC being sentenced to death by bullets. It seems FARC has followed other terrorists organisations down the rode from revolutionary to being a bunch of thugs, like the Black Panthers and Weather Underground before them. Uribe and the people of Colombia are winning their war against FARC and its in the United States interests to see they succeed.

If that was not enough, the sacred cash cow of the Venezuelan economy is down to skin and bones. I am talking of course about PVDSA, the Grail Hugo turns to to feed those of the barrios to keep them complacent. The Economist article on this is more disturbing. Anyone who has handled accounts receivable should all sit up and take notice that PVDSA has changed the normal billing cycle of 30 days to pay to a mere 8 days. Can we say liquidity problems on PVDSA's part? Then to add insult to injury, eight super-tankers of fuel oil went begging at the end of January. Plus lack of investment spending on top of plumetting oil production signals significant troubles ahead as revenues vanish. One could almost say Exxon's legal manuevers to freeze PVDSA's assets is just the coup d'grace. Notice how fast Chavez has now changed his tune and wont cut off oil shipments to the US?

Since Chavez uses PVDSA as his personal ATM to pay off people, once PVDSA stops spitting out its money Chavez just may wish he stayed under that table in 1992 wetting his pants and never thought of leading a coup.

Hugo goes begging

Got to love this. Muy loco el Presidente Hugo has sent a plea to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for them to intervene and stop the freezing of PvDSA's $12billion in assets.

Venezuela's ambassador to the U.S. has asked Sen. Richard Lugar to press Exxon Mobil Corp. to drop legal measures that have frozen $12 billion in assets worldwide.
"Through tactics that can only be compared with the very discredited strategy of pre-emptive war, Exxon Mobil has clearly violated the terms of the arbitration process," Bernardo Alvarez, Venezuela's ambassador to the U.S., said in a letter to the Indiana Republican that was released by the embassy Friday. Lugar is the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Of course Venezuela would not be over a barrel and begging the war-mongering gringos of the United States if they had abided by the contract they had with Exxon. Instead Hugo Chavez thought, since he was in charge, that he could merely violate a written contract between the country of Venezuela and Exxon to fully exploit an oil field in the name of social justice. Exxon has merely acted in the interest of its shareholders, who's money is invested in this oil field, to protect its investments, to keep sacred such contracts in the future, and to prevent anyone else from trying this trick.

Until Hugo Chavez returns these oil fields to their rightful owners and honors the contracts his country entered into in solemn good faith, he can cry me a river. The Orinoco in fact.

Exxon Puts the Squeeze on Chavez

In the Newtonian world, every action has an equal and opposite reaction. So it should come as no surprise to any reasonable person, that Exxon would react to autocratic seizing of their Orinoco project assets by Venezuela.

Unfortunately, Chavez and his cronies are far from reasonable. They expected that a company that pulled in $40billion in profits to just roll over. Exxon has secured injunctions in the US, Europe, and the Carribbean against PvDSA to prevent them from selling any of their $12billion in assets before arbitration over Venezuela's seizing of the Orinoco site. The spin from Venezuela is - this is an attempt to create anxiety in the country.

Notice in the article they claim to be producing 3.3 million barrels a day. According to OPEC, the production declined to 2.37 million barrels a day in 2007. Inflation is running at 22.5% and the economy shrunk by 5.3%. Venezuela is a country on the cusp of imploding due to gross mis-management. So what does Chavez do to keep himself in charge? Promise to keep doling out the cash as if oil production is not falling. Which any student of history knows is a recipe for disaster. One day the bread will run out and the people will rise up and reclaim their country.

Now if Exxon wins their case against Venezuela and Chavez has to repay, my what interesting times Hugo will live in. Now if the rest of the country can survive.

Chavez Gets FARC'd

It seems Hugo Chavez's feverish mind never stops formulating ways to annoy his neighbors while adding luster to his own over-inflated ego.

His latest scheme was to negotiate with the Colombian communist rebel group FARC and to secure the release of some of the civilians FARC hold in durance vile like Clara Rojas and Bettencourt, both women have been in captivity for over six years. This scheme would have made Chavez seem like a humanitarian and publicly humiliate Colombian President Uribe who has continued the decades long battle against FARC. Another factor on the Chavez animus towards Uribe is, the United States supports Uribe and his desire to create a peaceful and whole country.

So El Presidente Hugo Chavez clattered into Colombian airspace just a few weeks ago with an entourage that included American film-maker Oliver Stone to secure the release of a few hostages, including a child. So there sat Hugo for several days waiting and waiting. And the FARC never showed up. So the grand ploy was instead a grand bust it seemed as Hugo and company sweltered.

But just when everyone thought this small play had run its three acts, to many there was a fourth act that is just now unfolding. It seems back in 2005 a child ended up in Bogota's social services system as a foster-child. Acting on a tip, the Uribe government had this child, named Emmanuel - good name for the Christmas season, genetically tested against members of Clara Rojas' family and they found a match. This child was the child the FARC was supposed to release into Hugo Chavez's custody as the cameras snapped pictures. Which might explain why the swap never happened; very bad PR if you can't cough up one of the hostages. The Colombian government is asking for European assistance to run a second DNA test to verify their findings. But the true match will not come until Clara Rojas is released by the FARC from her six years of captivity. Meanwhile in Venezuela they are sniffing disdainfully at this news because they were never consulted, my how haughty they are.

As we all celebrate a new year full of hope, lets add all those held in captivity by FARC find freedom - including the three American civilian contractors the FARC captured when their plane went down.