Reply #1: It should be noted that the Colombian military received $7 BILLION in U.S. military aid,

[Peace Patriot]

while they were murdering these and other thousands of civilians, and the U.S. military and U.S. military 'contractors' were in the country, during this period (and still are), working closely with the Colombian military, present at many military bases (considered U.S. military "forward operating locations" by the Pentagon), providing the Colombian military with training and "technical assistance" and even with USAID/Pentagon-designed "pacification" programs. One such plan, in particular, was designed for a region, La Macarena, where a mass grave was found, containing 500 to 2,000 bodies, many believed to be "false positives"--young men lured by promises of jobs, murdered and their bodies dressed up like FARC guerrillas, to up the military's body count, and earn bonuses, perks and promotions.

The investigation should be occurring HERE, in this country, as well as in Colombia.

All of these horrors occurred with the full political backing of the Colombian military and Colombia's fascist, mafia-like government, by the Bush Junta, and was funded by U.S. taxpayers.

We not only need to know what occurred--and what part, if any, the U.S. military and the U.S. government played in these many and horrible crimes--we need to know why. What were the overt and--probably more important--covert goals of U.S. policy?

Some particular questions I want answered:

Was the U.S. military or its 'contractors' training assassins in Colombia? (There are some indications that they may well have been.)

Was the U.S. "war on drugs" being used as cover for consolidation of the trillion dollar-plus cocaine revenue stream into fewer hands, and direction of the profits to U.S. entities? (Again, there are indications of this but it's a particularly difficult matter to get information on.)

Why is the U.S. government protecting, and even coddling, Alvaro Uribe, who seems to have been running Colombia as a vast criminal enterprise? (Academic sinecures at Georgetown and Harvard; appointment to a prestigious international legal commission; U.S. involvement in removing witnesses against Uribe from Colombia, out of the reach of Colombian prosecutors and over their objections; U.S. State Department letter to a U.S. judge essentially telling him to back off from requiring Uribe to give a deposition in the Drummond Coal death squad case).

What, if anything, is the relationship between the USAID/Pentagon designed "pacification" program for La Macarena, and the hundreds of murders in La Macarena by the Colombian military? What was the U.S. military or 'contractor' involvement in implementing that "pacification" program, if any?

Why did the U.S. secretly seek "total diplomatic immunity" for all U.S. military personnel and all U.S. military 'contractors' in Colombia, secretly signed by Uribe, in 2009? Why did they need signed immunity more than a decade into the U.S. military presence in Colombia?

Was the secretly negotiated and secretly signed U.S./Colombia military agreement merely a ratification of "existing arrangements," as some spokespeople said, and if so, was the agreement's apparent increase in U.S. military presence at seven MORE military bases, and its other provisions, ever considered or voted on by the U.S. Congress?

What is the U.S. "status of forces" in Colombia today, and what is its purpose?

Why is the U.S. involved in Colombia's 70 year civil war?

How come the cocaine just keeps flowing out of Colombia, $7 BILLION later?

How come the U.S. was supporting Alvaro Uribe, some 70 of whose closest political associates were under investigation or are already in jail for drug trafficking, ties to the death squads, illegal domestic spying, bribery, corruption, election fraud and other crimes? What was in it for the Bush Junta? Is there no level of malfeasance and crime that is too low to merit U.S. support and funding?