July 02, 2008 03:00 PM
It's all in the timing
I'm very happy that the hostages were freed in Colombia, but it's kind of interesting that it happens as soon as John McCain pays them a little visit. Richard Blair agrees...
I’ve gotta tell you, ever since the itinerary of the tour was announced, I’ve been scratching my head a bit. It didn’t make any sense. Why would a U.S. presidential candidate feel the need to hobnob with the political elite in Mexico City and Bogota?
Hullabaloo has more...
UPDATE (Nicole): Did McCain violate the Logan Act?
Haha! Foist!
Yes...the timing IS a wee bit odd innit?
As soon as I heard this, it reminded me of the Iran hostage deal. Popped in to my head immediately.
I'm probably wrong about this. But it wouldn't surprise me in the least if something came out like this.
Captain Obvious, here is the answer: supply for Cindy's nose candy, of course.
funny i said that on a different thread , first!
and would you expect anything less than
a despicable and flagrant staging of something
like this. smacks of the total and continuous
dishonesty from bush/cheney/c*nti and the
rest of the bush administration. if the American
citizens solicited service from blackwater for
some domestic problems, would they still
have the same immunity they now have?
just asking..........lol
The US had advance notice of the operation (having provided transport help and medical help); that has been stated. And it may be that McCain knew that it was going to be attempted. So what! It was just as likely that the operation would fail and government troops would be killed. It was a great operation, led to the release of prisoners from quite savage captivity and should be applauded. McCain's presence in Columbia doesn't matter a whit. Also there is a political reason for McCain to have scheduled the trip - he is promoting his support for NAFTA and his support for a similar agreement with Colombia (which Obama opposes). It could be coincidence that he was there but, coincidence or not, it doesn't spoil or diminish the success of the operation.
richard @ 7:
It doesn't diminish the OP. I find it appalling that McCain gets to capitalize on the success of it. He had nothing to do with it what so ever. But he must have gotten inside info.
Shi'ite Sunni
Columbia Colombia
whatever
It's Colombia, by the way.
mudshark @ 3:
Same here...and McBain isn't sharp enough to keep this thing from blowin up in his face, lol!
anybody really believe the rebels wouldnt have had guards on that helicopter before the hostages boarded? thiers a brooklin bridge salesman waiting for yah!
In the Dallas Morning Nudes today the story was headlined, Daring mission deals blow to guerrila group.
Considering the story was from Columbia, I thought blow an interesting choice of words.
Here is video of McCain saying he had nothing to do with the rescue.
Suck it Fox News!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92sE3zqFALI
Colombia.
JTM @ 9:
Potato...potAto...let's call the whole thing off!
ysbaddaden @ 13:
*sniff,sniff*
LOL
the NEOCONS want mccain to carry the torch
they will stop at nothing to give the mccain heroisim
brand a boost
richard @ 7:
Well, if that was the case then this was a set up and covertly planned well in advance with McCain clearly in mind. The U.S. military and Columbian forces would not have left his eventual arrival to chance. They would have planned multiple layers of security for him as well just in case that things did go bad. Its standard SOP. In addition, the Marxist rebels would have known about his eventual arrival as well but they caused no problems apparently, why? This leads me to the most obvious of questions: What was given to the Colombian Marxist rebels in return? Because they sure as Hell didn't do it after six years because they felt "it was the right thing to do". Nah, there was behind closed doors deal struck that is for sure.
It's also just before the 4th of July holiday. Time to whip out that good ol' whuppin' terrrist ass fervor.
This coinkydinky can only mean something to someone who is searching for a reason to love John McSenile. I, personally, am of the opinion best reflected in the famous word uttered by the worst VP in US history: “So!?!?” I would like to add my own “who gives a rat’s patooty?”
Atlantajan @ 10:
Really? Damn, and here I thought Ole McSame was visiting my home town of Columbia, MD. ;-)
ysbaddaden @ 13:
Dealing blow to guerrilla groups, hmmm... Where have I heard that before?
no high ideas here , its simple the columbian government took off the heat on the rebels let them produce thier dope in return they give up the hostages make the government look good and old uncle sugar pours in more dough , every body wins! just like allways!
Roket @ 21:
I think its a little more that just coincidence. This incident, along with the North Korean nuclear issue that is being touted is just a little to smooth for me to buy. Are we expected to believe that long time arch enemies like the North Koreans and Colombian Marxist rebels just gave all of that up because they felt in their sweet little hearts to do what the U.S. asks with nothing in return and right before a U.S. election? Call me cynical but I don't buy that one for one minute. The Bush Administration and McCain know they are on the ropes. They are going to cut any deals no matter how unsavory the rival nations or groups may be to boost their image.
Colombia. Bogota.
Americans really need to learn a bit about the world. Then maybe they wouldn't vote for someone who has the IQ of a hamster.
mudshark @ 3:
Check the flight manifest, was GHWBush with him!
Hmm, we don't like Iran now, didn't then. We had a ready at hand source of untrackable cash, then it was drugs today Iraq and no bookkeeping going on with cash payments. If Blackwater pilots were flying the plane, or if Hannity has Oliver North on to give the plan the OK then you can be sure it's a crooked deal!
I remember when the kidnapping happened, I remember mentions of US involvement. I've also read rumors of the US and GB being heavily involved in the funding and training of these so called guerrilla groups in Colombia. So the story kind of reeks for me.
When I heard of the hostage release my initial thought was, oh great, let's hand to McOlderthandirt but it isn't being reported that way. At least not yet. They're saying it was a clandestine operation that took months to plan, infiltrate and pull off. All without a shot fired. News like that probably didn't make McVietnamdoesn'tmakemepresidentialmaterial happy. Doesn't sound like the type of operation he had a hand in, either.
From what I have seen, these were military contractors. What were their jobs in Columbia?
I guess Joe wasn't around to tell him when he was briefed so Cindy had to fill in.
Anything that even remotely attaches McCain to war-hero tough-guy status helps him because America is to simple-minded to see subtleties. I hate to sound so harsh, but this is the same country that according to the polls now seems surprised to find out that Bush is an incompetent simpleton, which was obvious to some of us from the first election.
I'm working on a web commercial to illustrate my biggest grief wi the Bush/McCain Iraq strategy to try to divert talk from a discussion of tough vs. wimp to where it should be: brains vs. incompetence. I've been asking for input: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4994741889717287417&q=strobinson...
Does anyone wonder why the FARC exists in the first place?
US foreign policy
or Coke trafficking?
I remember visiting Colombia a couple of years ago. All the locals there felt like Uribe purposefully didn't go after the FARC because he was elected (and reelected) on a ticket exclusively based on national security and the war with FARC. Very similar to how Bush hasn't wiped out OBL/Al Queda. I wouldn't be surprised if Uribe knew about where the hostages where held for years, but only goes in when it's politically advantageous.
Additional Conspiracy Fun Fact: President Uribe originally made a name for himself for starting the small, organized militias which are now used by the drug dealers to defend their crops (albeit something which happened after he got elected to office and broke ties with the militias) and it is these same drug suppliers which fund the FARC. Heard that story anywhere before? Say in Afghanistan or Iraq? Hmmm....?
This is a lot like Jesse Jackson getting the American pilot released 20+ years ago. The bad guys get free publicity, and Jesse the perpetual attention whore gets some, too!
colombia.
ugh.
Are you kidding me right now?
Among McCain's prominent supporters and fundraisers in Ohio is Carl H. Lindner Jr., a billionaire Cincinnati businessman, former CEO of Chiquita Brands International and co-host of a recent top-dollar fundraiser. Under his direction the company funded both the paramilitary and the leftist FARC and ELN, as the L.A. Times has reported, and commented on in this editorial.http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/laplaza/2008/07/in-colombia-mcc.html
Late last week, Lindner co-hosted a $25,000-per-person fundraiser for McCain and the Republican Party in the wealthy Indian Hills neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio. The event raised about $2 million; Lindner also serves on McCain's Ohio Victory Team.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/02/mccain-fundraiser-oversaw_n_110354.html
hell this countrys dopers have been snorting or shooting up with coke furnished and sold by the cia for years you might have bought a hit or two yourself , nice to know your in safe hands huh? booby
Fric'nFrac do Farc.
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/02/in-columbia-mccain-sees-pr...
votingvet @ 22:
ysbaddaden @ 13:
Daring mission deals blow FROM guerrila group.
John McSame's campaign plane flew to Colombia today to drop off CASH to be used to buy cocaine for his expanding campaign staff's personal use. The guerrila group threw in a group of hostages, which included 3 Americans, as part of the deal. One member of the guerrila group who asked not to be identified said they had grown weary of housing and feeding their captives. Most members will use their share of the sale of cocaine to purchase American made SUV's and drive to Venezuela where the price of gasoline is 15 cents a gallon.
votingvet @ 22:
Really? Damn, and here I thought Ole McSame was visiting my home town of Columbia, MD.
Say hey, moved south from 21044 in 2002
charles @ 36:
Good point. I recall hearing about Chiquita brands involvement in funding the FARC and other militias. It makes perfect sense. I suppose in a few days we will learn what exactly the FARC and the Columbian Government received in return for thier involvement in freeing the prisoners. Heck, it wouldn't surprise me to learn that both sides will get brand new shipments of U.S. made weapons of some sort.
The U.S. had advance notice. Bush tells McCain, McCain heads down there. No matter what happens McCain says he had nothing to do with it. BUT if it fails, no one says anything, it succeeds and the McCain friendly media get to speculate on his secret heroism.
Based on the way Bush admin has used the fed gov't to help get republicans elected or re-elected from the local schoolboard on up, any surprise they won't be going batshit crazy to rig things to help McCain?
McCain just wanted to see what extraordinary rendition was like...hey, just another paid for vacation! What's all the fuss?
Seriously, the bigger stupidity is that McCain is anti labor union and wanted some tips on how to keep the workers down even more in the US...
With McCain traveling so much, let's take a look at McCain's voting record for 2007-2008: Project Vote Smart. It's quite pathetic how absent he has been.
The new mantra for Obama should be:
When the troops needed support and the war funding was decided - where was McCain?
When the farmers needed support for the Farm Bill - where was McCain?
When Medicare and the health budget were being decided - where was McCain?
When the Energy budgets were being decided - where was McCain?
and so on - so many to list!
Where was he? He was traveling in his Straight Talk Express plane to other countries!
i see graham and lieberman are in charge of the ventriloquist act.
I was in Spain when they won the World Cup. Do you think I have a chance as their Prime Minister?
Does not matter that McCain said he had nothing to do with it. FauxNews has already floated a tiny balloon that, umm, maybe, just maybe McCain helped free these people.
This is how every little tidbit of propaganda starts from the right. A mention on Faux by a nobody, then a bigger shot says it, then a main anchor says it, then a 'pundit' says it on another network, then this gives the MSM the green light that this is the story and they all start to say it.
By Friday of next week John McCain will have swooped into Colombia bare chested clenching a Bowie knife between his teeth. Mark your calender to see if I'm not spot on. This is the way they germinate all their poison producing plants.
People will hear McClown was there and link the rescue to him of course. Heck people still voted for Bu$h in 2004 and so anything is possible. Saddam is responsible for 911 in many's eyes still. Oh and democrats are responsible for gas prices.
It's obvious.
Get past the 1980 GHWB trip to Paris. That would be well beyond the capabilities of the current Rovian crew. GHWB knew there are people on the other side of the Atlantic and as ex-CIA chief had connections to make a deal with the Iranians.
McBush is ex-Navy - a tailhooker.
Southern Command was in on the rescue providing intel and coordinating to make sure Dummie in the Oval Office didn't give his heckuva job speech a day early and tip off the bad guys.
The US Southern Command is Navy at the top and doubtless is full of tailhookers who called the McBush campaign and suggested he be in Colombia on such and such a day for a great photo-op looking just like the on scene commander of the greatest hostage rescue since Entebbe.
And if it didn't come off - he's still playing statesman meeting with foreign leaders.
From the below Reuters article: "The United States said it was aware of the rescue plan but stressed that it was a Colombian operation."
Well, if that is the case then McCain surely knew about it long before that operation became public because he sits on the Armed Forces Committee. McCain basically used that situation and those hostages for his own political gain. He may not have had a direct hand in the operation but he sure as Hell knew that he had to make an appearance there to collect any sort of notoriety that may come from it. If the deal went south and the hostages were killed, McCain would have simply diverted his flight and made no appearance at all.
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN0240478720080703?pageNumber=...
Please, the name of the country is COLOMBIA not COLUMBIA.... It's bad enough when Maureen Dowd has problems with the spelling....;)
Paul G @ 49:
maby they should have grdiated grade school like us!
There's no need for conjecture - if McPain and his "best bud forever" LIEberman were there when the release happened, you can bet it was an inside job. The people who run our government only appear to be stupid (well, GWB actually is, but he doesn't run anything) are there are no such things as coincidences with the neo-cons.
You can fool some of the people some of the time; all of the people some of the time; but not all of the people all of the time - unless they're Americans....
Could at least ONE of these comments please say that it's a blessing that hostages were released? I mean, this is ridiculous.
Supposing the conspiracy theories have some truth to them, do you think that makes the 15 hostages any less grateful to be alive? Do you think it makes their families any less overjoyed that their loved ones are no longer at risk for being killed?
People, let's put this in just a little bit of perspective.
its tough you know. as suspicious as it may be there no way to prove any kind of connection
mudshark @ 8:
No doubt.
The media are really advertising companies. They make money by selling products and ideas. Every time you see a news story; someone has paid them money to run that story. It's true. At the other end of every news story is someone paying cash to a media company. This is why the wildfires in California are a footnote; yet this Colombia thing is a made for television event. The news is not about informing Americans about what is going in the world; it's about some guy walking into a studio with a role of bills trying to sell some crappy product, idea, or agenda. We have seen this before; where the GOP prays upon somebody's misfortune to promote their own agenda. Tragedies are highly emotional. You want to rope somebody into buying something play upon the fear of misfortune. The best kinds of tragedies involve a happy ending.
Elsie @ 42:
I thought it was his "DOUBLE TALK EXPRESS".
"Some of the elite Colombian soldiers who took part in the operation had disguised themselves as rebels, even wearing T-shirts bearing the picture of legendary revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara, she said. "
That's all it took? Che Guevara T's.
Perhaps the invoice from "ACME Hostage Transfer by Helicopter Services" should have tipped them off?
An operation months in planning goes off the very day McCain is visiting?
Cue the Church Lady...
liberals can hate terrorists too @ 52:
Gee, if 'American intelligence' located the rebels, I'd think their families would be asking what the frack took so long?
That you think this should be some moment where we all drink the kool-aid, praise Bush, and get our patriotic dander up at dem durn terr'ists shows you're a charter subscriber to right wing talking points.
An administration that has consistently gotten military operations and threat assessment WRONG is not suddenly going to turn into a paragon of efficiency. It is this willingness to use those very lives you say we should be giving thanks for as a chip in this sick, twisted game.
I say, enough. No more. We don't despise hostage-taking terrorists only to be held hostage by our own government's endless carping about how We Need To Be Afraid.
And I'll thank YOU, sir, for butting out and not telling me how I should or should not feel about freed hostages.
We don't need to go to the White House or even Senator McCain's committee seats to understand why this trip happened when it did.
Black Not Traveling with McCain to Colombia
Despite what the Villagers are saying, it's not at all implausible to believe that Charlie Black was tipped off. They needn't even have told them any details, just something like "if you want a good PR bump, have your candidate in Colombia between these dates."
Utterly plausible.
McCain was in Canada raising money for his campaign last week,then he went after that to Colombia,then to Mexico in his way.
Last year McCain and his two buddies Lieberman and Graham went to raise money in Scotland for his campaign.
What's for McCain in Colombia anyway...?!!
Colombia is not a rich country, not oil producing country, not a country of a major political weight or a big player in this western hemisphere, It is not in major war or conflict with anybody, it is not a major business trade partner in comparison to others.
So why McTravel was there anyway ,in the midst of a very busy campaigning schedule in USA..? !! There has to be an important reason; the coming days and months might reveal to us about what were his real reasons.
NPR is certainly pulling out all the stops hyping up this event. Neocon Propaganda Radio.
Scandal Manager @ 4:
They probably have their own coca fields and coke production facility. Their personal supply was probably getting low. Often wondered where Grandpa was finding all that energy to campaign.
McBush's Latin American trip was a photo op for the Hispanic voting population, nothing more, nothing less. Next thing you know, he'll come up with some slogan in Spanish similar to Obama's "Si, se puede!" Only he will badly mispronounce it and act like was only making a joke. He reminds me of a truck stop sign in Oklahoma advertising the diner, Wayne's Kitchen: "Try Our Mexican Food - It's Mooooey Wayne-O."
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