Redstate

The question: Name a South American terrorist group, its state sponsor, and a foreign policy fool

By Charles Bird Posted in Foreign Affairs — Comments (2) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

When FARC terrorist leader Raul Reyes was killed and his computer confiscated, Interpol was contacted to ascertain the authenticity of 40,000 files and 610 gigs worth of documents on the hard drive. Here's what The Economist says about it:

They represent only one side of a story, and most of their claims have yet to be independently corroborated. But Interpol has now concluded that the huge cache of e-mails and other documents recovered from the computers of Raúl Reyes, a senior leader of the FARC guerrillas killed in a Colombian bombing raid on his camp in Ecuador on March 1st, are authentic and undoctored. The documents throw new light on the inner workings of the FARC. And they raise some very pointed questions about the ties between Venezuela's leftist president, Hugo Chávez, and a group considered to be terrorists by the United States and the European Union (EU).

Batches of the documents have been seen by The Economist and several other publications. They appear to show that Mr Chávez offered the FARC up to $300m, and talked of allocating the guerrillas an oil ration which they could sell for profit. They also suggest that Venezuelan army officers helped the FARC to obtain small arms, such as rocket-propelled grenades, and to set up meetings with arms dealers.

Venezuelan officials have dismissed the documents as fabrications. That was contradicted by Ronald Noble, Interpol's secretary-general, who announced in Bogotá on May 15th, after two months of study by a team of 64 foreign experts, that the computer files came from the FARC camp and had not been modified in any way. Mr Chávez called this "ridiculous", questioning the impartiality of Mr Noble, who is American, and labelling him a "gringo policeman". However, in one indication of their accuracy, the documents provided information that in March guided police in Costa Rica to a house where they found $480,000 in cash, as an e-mail suggested.

More below the fold...

One other thing about this Marxist terrorist group, which is listed as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department. Under Colombian president Alvaro Uribe, FARC is getting decimated. Last week, a key commander surrendered to the Colombian government, and she called for the entire organization to surrender:

The commander of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia’s Force 47 told reporters in Bogota Monday — a day after surrendering — that "the solution is not through war. There must be dialogue."

Nelly Avila Moreno, 45, whose nom de guerre was Karina, said she and her longtime male companion made the decision jointly to abandon the FARC group, based in the jungle, at 5 a.m. Sunday.

She said pressure from Colombian soldiers had been key to their decision, and she called on her fellow rebels to follow her example.

"I invite them to change the sensibility that is among the guerrillas," she said, seated by her companion, who said nothing during the news conference.

A couple of days ago, the Colombian army announced that FARC leader Manuel "Sure Shot" Marulanda had died (though this requires additional confirmation). As Gateway Pundit noted, four FARC commanders have died or surrendered since last March.

Here're some other FARC facts:

● FARC has close ties to the German far left, according to captured computer files (via Hot Air).
● Democratic Congressman James McGovern from Massachusetts has had, at the very least, contacts with FARC representatives according to the Wall Street Journal: "The Reyes hard drive reveals an ardent effort to do business directly with the FARC by Congressman James McGovern (D., Mass.), a leading opponent of the free-trade deal. Mr. McGovern has been working with an American go-between, who has been offering the rebels help in undermining Colombia's elected and popular government."
● Gateway Pundit has a running list of items on Reyes' computer.

Here is a running list of the infomation discovered by Colombian investigators on the FARC terror leader's computers:

-- FARC connections with Ecuadorean president Rafael Correa
-- Records of $300 million offerings from Hugo Chavez
-- Thank you notes from Hugo Chavez dating back to 1992
-- Uranium purchasing records
-- Admit to killing the sister of former President Cesar Gaviria
-- Admit to planting a 2003 car bomb killing 36 at a Bogota upper crust club
-- Directions on how to make a Dirty Bomb
-- Information that led to the discovery of 60 pounds of uranium
-- Letter to Libya's Moammar Gadhafi asking for cash to buy surface-to-air missiles
-- Meetings with "gringos" about Barack Obama
-- Information on Russian illegal arms dealer Viktor Bout who was later captured
-- FARC funding Correa's campaign
-- Cuban links to FARC
-- Links to US Democrats
-- $480,000 of FARC cash in Costa Rican safe house
-- $100,000 to President Correa's campaign for election
-- Chavez attempts to buy arms for FARC through the Belarus regime
-- FARC branches in 17 countries including Germany and Switzerland
-- FARC terrorists expanded operations to 17 countries
-- FARC terrorists expanded operations to Germany and Switzerland

So where does Barack Obama enter into the picture? First, like Hamas, FARC is agreeable to an Obama presidency. The following was in Raul Reyes' computer files:

The gringos called for a meeting with the minister to ask him to tell us they are interested in talking about several topics. They claim they new president in their country will be Obama and that these people are interested in their fellow citizens. Obama will support neither Plan Colombia nor the signature of the Free Trade Agreement. In this regard, we replied we are interested in relations with the governments that are on equal grounds and that in the case of the United States, a public statement voicing their interest in talking to the FARC is needed, given their eternal war against us.

It would be interesting to know who the "gringos" are. It is a fact that Barack Obama is opposed to the Colombian free trade agreement. Regarding Hugo Chavez, here is how Obama responded in last July's debate:

QUESTION: In 1982, Anwar Sadat traveled to Israel, a trip that resulted in a peace agreement that has lasted ever since.

In the spirit of that type of bold leadership, would you be willing to meet separately, without precondition, during the first year of your administration, in Washington or anywhere else, with the leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea, in order to bridge the gap that divides our countries?

COOPER: I should also point out that Stephen is in the crowd tonight.

Senator Obama?

OBAMA: I would. And the reason is this, that the notion that somehow not talking to countries is punishment to them -- which has been the guiding diplomatic principle of this administration -- is ridiculous.

Barack Obama has not retracted this statement. In fact, last Thursday, in the spirit of last July's debate, Obama said this about Hugo Chavez and Raul Castro:

ON CASTRO/CHAVEZ:

I would be willing to initiate such talks with leaders of countries adversarial to the United States. There would be a lot of preparation. The first steps would not be to pre-judge all the items on the list.

The freedom of the Cuban people would be my top goal with President Raul Castro. As well as the release of political prisoners, democracy and the freedom of religious worship.

One of the obvious high priorities in my talks with President Hugo Chavez would be the fermentation of anti-American sentiment in Latin America, his support of FARC in Colombia and other issues he would want to talk about. It is important to understand that ignoring these countries has not led to improved behavior on their part and it has not served our national security interests.

There needs to be a shift in foreign politics and return to traditional foreign politics that were supported by both Republicans and Democrats in the past.

It's pretty clear to me that Obama is in favor of "my talks with President Hugo Chavez" and was trying to say "without preconditions" short of actually saying it. Obama wants these direct presidential talks with Chavez regardless of the strong circumstantial evidence that Chavez is a sponsor and supporter of FARC. I don't remember the United States, back in the days of "traditional foreign politics", having direct presidential talks with terrorist sponsors. The following day (last Friday), speaking before the Cuban American National Foundation in Miami, Obama's tune changed:

Obama, speaking today at the Cuban American National Foundation luncheon in Miami, reiterated his goal of engaging in direct diplomacy with Cuba and immediately allowing Americans from the Caribbean Island unlimited remittances and family travel to Cuba.

He also promised to punish any South American government that gives support to the Colombian rebel group Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, an indirect reference to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

"We will shine a light on any support for the FARC that comes from neighboring governments," he said. "This behavior must be exposed to international condemnation, regional isolation, and -- if need be -- strong sanctions. It must not stand."

Jake Tapper asks the pertinent question:

So he will meet with the leader of a country he simultaneously says should be isolated? Huh?

(Hat tip to Hot Air as well). On one day, Obama talked about "his [Chavez's] support of FARC in Colombia" as if it's a Known Fact, and on the next, Obama is calling for an investigation to see if Hugo Chavez is supporting FARC:

When I asked him what he would do about the estimated 37,000 Interpol-certified Colombian FARC guerrilla computer files that indicate an active support from Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa to the Colombian rebels, Obama went farther than the Bush administration.

"I think the Organization of American States and the international community should launch an immediate investigation into this situation. We have to hold Venezuela accountable if, in fact, it is trying to ferment terrorist activities in other borders," he said.

"If Venezuela has violated those rules," he said, "we should mobilize all the countries to sanction Venezuela and let them know that that's not acceptable behavior."

"If"? Just one day earlier, Obama said he would talk to Chavez about his support of FARC, as if the conclusion was foregone. Obama may be a quick study, but his policies on Colombia and Venezuela are incoherent, and he still hasn't backed down from his statement that he would meet with leaders of adversarial nations in his first year without preconditions. This is foreign policy foolishness, and it doesn't matter if it's Iran or South America.

The issue isn't whether or not an Obama administration talks to nations we don't like. McCain has also said that the United States would keep communications lines open with said nations at the appropriate levels. The issue is what Obama would say when he shows up on their doorsteps. There's plenty of talk about process, but next to nothing about what he would do or say. For Colombia, Obama should be opening the doors to increased trade and rewarding Uribe for the major strides made. So far, he's against both. Venezuela is a trickier situation, and it'll take someone with foreign policy experience to wade through those waters. The half-term freshman Senator clearly lacks in this department and--as Dan McLaughlin has pointed out--lacks in several other departments as well.