Wednesday, July 02, 2008

Question the Timing?   [Stephen Spruiell]

An e-mail:

What a great day for Colombia! Countdown to "I question the timing..." comments on the left blogosphere, with McCain in Colombia and Obama blasting him for visiting a U.S. ally on a day that became one of historic importance. Too much!

I'd be tempted to "question the timing," too, but this triumph is just the latest in a string of recent victories for President Alvaro Uribe's government against the narco-terrorists trying to undermine Colombia. It started back in March when the Colombian military took out FARC commander Raul Reyes and captured incriminating laptops that implicated Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez in the guerilla group's activities. Chavez initially threw a tantrum, but more recently he renounced his longstanding recognition of the FARC as a legitimate army and called on them to release all of their hostages without any preconditions. And don't forget the surrender of Nelly Avila Moreno, a top FARC commander, last month.

This should also be seen in the broader context of the remarkable decline in violence that has taken place since Uribe assumed office, including violence against union members. Remember that violence against union members (and Uribe's alleged lack of attention to the problem) is currently the Democrats' only pretense for opposing the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement, which McCain supports. McCain smartly planned his trip to Colombia at a time when the FARC is unraveling, violence in Colombia is dropping off sharply and the Democrats are denying this key ally the security of an important trade pact. That's no conspiracy, it's just good politics.

07/02 03:57 PMShare