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| Caribbean-Latin America | |
| Colombia says FARC wanted to make radioactive bomb | |
| 2008-03-05 | |
The charges by Vice-President Francisco Santos, at the United Nations-sponsored Conference on Disarmament, marked a dramatic turn in a regional crisis that has seen Venezuela and Ecuador cut diplomatic ties with Colombia. "Just yesterday (Monday) our national police submitted an initial report regarding the content of two computers found with Raul Reyes, second in command of FARC, who was killed last Saturday," Santos said. They contained "information from one commander to another indicating that FARC was apparently negotiating for radioactive material, the primary basis for generating dirty weapons of mass destruction and terrorism," he added. Initial information verified with international support showed "terrorist groups, based on the economic power of drug trafficking, constitute a serious threat not to just our country but to the entire Andean and Latin American region," he said. | |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #16 FREEREPUBLIC > VENEZUELAN MINISTER - "WAR HAS BEGUN". However, there are no Net or TV reports of any violent military exchanges [yet]. FREEP Posters > perhaps Minister is hinting at future cross-border guerilla raids??? |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2008-03-05 18:44 |
| #15 So what does Obama and Hillary say about this? They are the all seeing all knowing ones. Somebody ought to ask them. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2008-03-05 16:52 |
| #14 Heck, RJ, they do that to themselves. |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2008-03-05 15:21 |
| #13 Only good Communists are dead communists. Bankrupt works better, starve in the dark and cold. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2008-03-05 13:17 |
| #12 I s'pose the key question is: how dirty is the dirty bomb? If the manufacturer threw in some hospital waste that would be one thing, a significant quantity of less than bomb-quality uranium would be quite another. In my post above I made the unstated assumption that it would be the former, resulting in a small increase over local background radioactivity levels over an area limited to the bomb's blast radius -- ie considerably more frightening than meaningful. If FARC is seeking to acquire quantities of semi-refined uranium, eg from Iran, where the resultant radioactivity levels are high enough to be a rational concern and the half life is a real consideration, my flippant attitude certainly is inappropriate. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2008-03-05 11:29 |
| #11 From War in the Andes? A new war among Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador would be inevitable this year but for the fact that its main promoter, Hugo Chavez, is having problems trying to make himself heard by his army and his people. Sunday, in his TV show, he dictated orders to his Minister of Defense to send ten battalions (some 5,000 men) tanks and other weapons to the Colombian border. More than 24 hours later there are no signs that this order has been obeyed and one reason is that there might not be more than three battalions ready to march. Worse for Chavez, an alliance of opposition parties and organizations of civil society, including the student movement, has vigorously rejected his call to arms and has labeled him as a “traitor to the country.” ------------------------------------ When notified by Colombian President Uribe of the raid Correa listened in silence. It was after receiving a call from Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez that he became extremely agitated and accused Colombia of violating Ecuador’s sovereignty. Technically he was correct, since the raid by the Colombian army had been made inside Ecuadorian territory. But Correa conveniently forgot that international law prohibits countries from harboring terrorists, that Reyes was a murderer and an enemy of the Colombian people and that he had been in Ecuador enjoying the hospitality of the government. Colombia had made it clear to Correa that they knew Reyes was in Ecuador but Correa chose not to reply. In his guilty fury Correa has now expelled Colombia’s ambassador from Ecuador and has sent troops to the Colombian border. |
| Posted by: Sherry 2008-03-05 11:18 |
| #10 I agree with lotp, as this could be disastrous. Previous RB posts report Venezuela has been training ME to look and act as western Hispanics, their helicopters ferried Iranians to Nicaragua, and radioactive material imported from Europe, supposedly for legit purposes in the oil field industry. Smuggling a dirty bomb into the US is obviously relatively easy, especially with the volume of imports coming in every day, not to mention the border, and yet we have vital interests in the region that could easily be attacked to harm us financially, especially with stagflation lurking in our economic future. It would certainly be in Colombia's best interests to eliminate any threat to their own sovereign interests.... |
| Posted by: Danielle 2008-03-05 11:03 |
| #9 "I'd be happy to look to one side and watch the Colombians go medieval on FARC." Look to one side, hell - I'd be happy to watch, point and laugh, and serve extra popcorn. F*ck all murderous communist assholes. May they all burn in HELL with their predecessors. >:-( |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2008-03-05 10:44 |
| #8 RE: the possible impact of a 'dirty bomb' - It's true that one would probably not kill large numbers of people. However, in addition to causing panic it could, if detonated in a key business or governmental area, badly disrupt the economy and society for a good while. For instance: a radioactively polluted Manhattan would close the stock exchange for a while at least, although IIRC after 9/11 not only the NYSE but also many brokerage firms established contingency backup sites elsewhere. If a group managed to detonate such in multiple financial centers at once, the economic impact on major countries around the world would be substantial. Radioactivity in the near vicinity of a major power generation plant might disrupt power supplies for a long while, near a port might disrupt food, oil and other imports or exports etc. We don't have easy or effective ways to clear a lot of radioactivity spread through a wide area, even if it occurs in concentrations that are lethal only over a long period of time. Such a device in DC, while it would not decapitate the federal government, would throw day to day processes into long lasting confusion. Multiply that many times if such a device were used, not in the US, but against Bogota or Ottawa, New Delhi .... or against the electronics chip factories in Taiwan or ... But for sure, the biggest impact would be panic out of proportion to the immediate threat posed by the device itself. |
| Posted by: lotp 2008-03-05 10:03 |
| #7 Either way, FARC is long overdue for a right good ass-kicking. I say we tell Columbia to go for it and support them the whole way. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2008-03-05 08:59 |
| #6 300 millions from Hugo Chavez is the real story. Only good Communists are dead communists. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2008-03-05 08:15 |
| #5 Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof. Nah, this is a myth. All claims require equal amounts of confirming or refuting data in order to determine if they are true or not. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2008-03-05 08:07 |
| #4 A surprising side development in this issue is the outing of FARC's confederates, Venezuela and Ecuador. I'm pleased. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2008-03-05 07:43 |
| #3 Planning and accomplishing are two different things. I plan to one day recover my girlhood figure and energy. On the other hand, a dirty bomb is more for frightening the ignorant populace than actually a matter of concern beyond the effect of the explosion, if I recall Rantburg U. lessons on the subject correctly. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2008-03-05 06:55 |
| #2 ION, ASIA TODAY > DONG-A-ILBO - NORTH KOREA [CONTINUES]DEVELOPING LONG-RANGE BALLISTIC MISSLE, Taepondong-2's capable of eventually striking the mainland USA; + NORTH KOREA DEVELOPING MISSLES INDEPENDENTLY, + OPED : JAPAIN? KOREAR? |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2008-03-05 02:31 |
| #1 Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof. |
| Posted by: gromky 2008-03-05 02:25 |