Oh it just unleashes infra-red guided hell. IPS is reporting far heavier US involvement in the preparation and execution of July 2nd's Operation Jaque than previously acknowledged by either Colombian or US authorities. According to Colombian generals, the US Military Southern Command even installed an exciting new button on the fake humanitarian helicopters which “would have activated an unprecedented all-out military attack by the Colombian air force”. Which would have like killed everyone, including the hostages. It also means that the operation was peaceful because of the Red Cross and other disguises, thereby explaining the Red Cross’s growing anger over the illegal misuse of its emblem.
With the info from IPS and the July 9 Washington Post article that details the omnipresence of the US in Colombia’s war, it should be asked when the US administration and/or military knew about the plan to disregard international law. Of course Bush & Co. don’t care much for the “quaint” Geneva Conventions, but are they also encouraging Colombia to establish dangerous legal precedents in Latin America? It wouldn’t be the first time. Given what is already known about US involvement in Colombia's illegal March 1 missile strike in Ecuadoran territory and the Colombian military's love of what Defense Minister Santos likes to call "other truth[s]", the US should clarify it's role in both the March 1 and July 2 violations of international law.
And what has Plan Colombia and its billions of tax dollars gotten the US besides a workshop to try out cool new military toys and unpopular legal theories? Well it’s also making US and Colombian officials into really bad and nonsensical liars.
This [July 2] mission was a Colombian concept, a Colombian plan, a Colombian training operation, then a Colombian operation. We, however, had been working with them more than five years on every single element that came to pass that pulled off this operation, as well as the small bits that we did on this operation.US Ambassador to Colombia (and previously Venezuela) William R. Brownfield.
Ironically, Mr. Brownfield earlier served as "Counselor for Humanitarian Affairs for the United States Mission in Geneva" according to his State Dep. bio. The Washington Post piece claims that Brownfield was the head of a 100-member hostage-rescue planning team at the US Embassy in Bogota, and that he ultimately gave the Colombians the green-light to "Proceed" with the entire operation. As a former International Humanitarian Law (IHL) attorney working at the home of the Red Cross, he would have recognized that the operation was at the very least pushing the limits of IHL. But given how much information was shared with the Ambassador and the now obviously premeditated actions of the Colombian soldiers, it is quite possible that he knew the Geneva Conventions would be overlooked in the mission.
Vice President Francisco Santos, cousin of Defense Minister Santos, denied that the use of the Red Cross symbol constituted a war crime because "no one was killed or injured" in the rescue operation. But that was only by luck, and because of the illegal use of the various logos.
