Former POW McCain in Colombia during hostage release now alleged to be staged: a ransom, not a rescue operation…

Recently I’ve been putting together more and more pieces of the rescue of Ingrid Betancourt and other hostages from FARC, the left- wing guerrilla group in Colombia. In the most recent and astounding news, a Swiss news radio report has claimed that FARC was actually paid a large ransom in return for the release. (see link here) (and here)

In related news, it has come out that Chiquita Brands International paid money to FARC and the right-wing paramilitary group, The United Self Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), while Carl Lindner, a major donor to the McCain campaign, was CEO of Chiquita. (see link here)

John McCain, US Presidential candidate for the Republican Party, was in Colombia during the hostage release/ rescue. As I read more, I find out that McCain was informed by Colombian President Alvaro Uribe of the planned hostage operation the day before the raid. (see link here) However, the White House has denied that McCain knew about the operation to release the hostages before he went to Colombia. (see link)

• This is the first of three posts on Colombia and the FARC hostage release.  The second was “More Questions and Analysis in the Colombian FARC Hostage Rescue- Release”
• The third post was “Media: Wall Street Journal Uses Questionable FARC Hostage Release to Bash Human Rights NGOs”

An Elaborate Ruse?

OK, now for the conspiracy theory: John McCain knew about the planned hostage release operation before he went to Colombia and planned his trip to be there at the same time to take advantage of the resonance with his own POW experience in North Vietnam. To take the theory one step further: the hostage release was paid for, rather than a daring rescue. Then throw in Carl Lindner. Perhaps Carl Lindner’s Chiquita contacts, already in the know about how to bribe the FARC, helped arrange the transfer of funds.

Now let’s dissect the conspiracy theory piece by piece to see how much it holds up under examination. A Swiss radio report has claimed that 20 Million USD was paid to FARC to release the hostages, rather than the story of the daring and cunning rescue we have been told about. The Swiss radio report cites a “reliable source” as the source of their information, which has been tried and true in several cases previously. While a “reliable source”, which cannot be tested or cross checked is not something to build your case on, the fact that the story has been posted on several news sources, and has been alleged at all, is something to consider.

John McCain deliberately arranged to be in Colombia during the raid? Well, it has already been widely reported that he was informed of the alleged rescue operation the day before by the Colombian President. Is it too much of a stretch to think that he could have been told well in advance and arranged his trip to coincide with it? Apparently, the possibility occurred to others, since the White House felt the need to deny it. And remember, this is the same administration that told you there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq when US intelligence agencies were advising against the War in Iraq.

And McCain would certainly have a motive. It resonated perfectly with his own experience as a Prisoner of War (POW) in Vietnam, something which has been used relentlessly to promote his character as a Presidential candidate. A free trade agreement with Colombia has been one of the issue discussed during the campaign, with McCain supporting the agreement and Obama opposed to it. In the midst of the arguments that the agreement is a bad idea because of the human rights situation in Colombia (along with other reasons), the hostage release story is a feel-good story which gives us all the feeling that things are improving in Colombia and FARC is in decline.

After the initial incident, one blogger even speculated that the Betancourt rescue could swing the US Presidential election. (see link here) Another blog spoofed the whole incident as if McCain had really conducted the rescue. (see link)

And FOX News has tried to link the story with McCain.

Well, you’d have to think as a former prisoner of war himself, Sen. McCain would have an intense interest in this case. It’s been played pretty low profile. A lot of people aren’t even aware of the fate of these three Americans. They were really working for a Defense Department civilian contractor. So there really might be a connection between the high-level visit of the former prisoner of war, John McCain himself, and the release now of three American prisoners here in southern Colombia.

Even the FOX correspondent is saying there “really might be a connection” between McCain’s visit and the release.

If it is true that FARC was paid to release the hostages, that would be even more perfect. Of course, McCain wouldn’t want to be in Colombia during a BOTCHED hostage rescue. Only a successful operation would look good.

What about Chiquita?

Were Lindner and Chiquita tied into it by paying the ransom somehow? We know that Chiquita paid money to FARC as part of doing business in Colombia, and we know that Carl Lindner is a donor to McCain, who recently hosted a major fundraiser for McCain in the posh Cincinnati neighborhood of Indian Hill, around the 27th of June. Chiquita was sued by the US Dept. of Justice for paying bribes to another group, the right wing paramilitary group AUC, and had to pay damages of $25 million.

But perhaps it is a stretch to think that Lindner had anything to do with arranging the ransom. The Swiss radio report, says that the ransom was arranged through the wife of a FARC hostage guard who had been captured by the Colombian government. So far no evidence of that link. But in an amusing twist, theyoungturks.com website highlighted how, if Obama received a donation from someone who had previously given money to a left wing group like th FARC, the media would immediately jump on it as proof of Obama’s socialistic leanings.

Coalition of the Right?

All the major figures in this affair are on the right of the political spectrum- McCain, Bush, Uribe, even Sarkozy, one of the main figures previously working on Betancourt’s release. Then we have FOX News, which was right there to capitalize on the affair and score brownie points for McCain.

Of course, the White House could never admit that McCain knew about the rescue of the hostages beforehand, because the American public would be turned off by such pandering and misuse of a humanitarian relief operation. But if he just happens to be there, to subtly benefit by association with the events which were broadcast around the world, a kind of subtle psychological ploy, that would be perfect.

We should all be happy that Betancourt and the others were released- they certainly had suffered greatly in captivity. But if McCain deliberately did this to promote his campaign, it really is shameless.

The sad thing is, even though many of these different points are being put together now, the real impact on the American public will hardly be altered at all. Because Americans receive an incredible flow of information, it will probably hardly register with 99% of Americans that there is now evidence that the rescue operation was actually a case of a paid ransom, not an clever operation to hoodwink FARC. In politics these days, its the initial impression on the vast majority of people that counts, not the few that find out an alternate truth days later…

Other links:

Forum discussion related to original article on Lindner and McCain
John McCain’s Excellent Latin American Adventure!
The Official Story: How Colombia Hoodwinked FARC (Miami Herald)

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