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[whytemyke]

Haha, I don't know how this hasn't been posted yet (AFAIK). A couple soldiers were ALL BY THEMSELVES and caught supplying a right-wing anti-government militia with arms. Hm. HOW UNLIKE OUR GOVERNMENT IMHO!

CARMEN DE APICALA, Colombia, May 4 -- Colombian police have arrested two U.S. soldiers for alleged involvement in a plot to traffic thousands of rounds of ammunition, possibly to outlawed paramilitary groups, authorities said Wednesday.

The soldiers were detained during a raid Tuesday in a gated community in Carmen de Apicala, 50 miles southwest of the capital and near Colombia's Tolemaida air base, where the soldiers worked.

The National Police chief, Gen. Jorge Daniel Castro, said officers in the area stopped a suspicious man who offered a bribe to be allowed to go free. Under threat of arrest, the man led the officers to a nearby house where more than 40,000 rounds of ammunition for assault rifles, machine guns and pistols were found, officials said.

Shortly afterward, the two U.S. soldiers -- apparently unaware of the police operation -- tried to go to the house. "They did not give a satisfactory explanation and were put at the disposal of the prosecutor's office," Castro said.

In Washington, the State Department confirmed the arrests and said, "We are discussing the circumstances of their detention with Colombian authorities, but do not have any additional information to provide at this time."

A police registry identified the U.S. servicemen only as Allam Norman Tanquary and Jesus Hernandez. U.S. authorities did not provide names.

The Colombian attorney general's office said the two soldiers had been in contact with a former Colombian police sergeant, Will Gabriel Aguilar, who has been linked to right-wing paramilitary groups. Aguilar, another retired policeman and two other Colombians were also arrested, police said.

The ammunition had been sent to Colombia by the United States under its Plan Colombia aid program, aimed at crushing a leftist insurgency and the drug trafficking that fuels it, officials said.

The U.S. Embassy declined to comment on possible links to paramilitary groups, which have fought alongside Colombian troops battling leftist rebels. The U.S. government has branded the paramilitary umbrella group, the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, as a terrorist organization, along with the two rebel groups.

Attorney General Luis Camilo Osorio said the soldiers will not face Colombian charges because they have diplomatic immunity under a 1974 treaty.

The United States has provided more than $3 billion in aid under Plan Colombia. U.S. law allows the presence of as many as 800 U.S. troops in Colombia to train Colombian armed forces and provide logistical support. As many as 600 Americans are also permitted as U.S. government contractors.

On March 29, five U.S. soldiers were arrested after 35 pounds of cocaine was found aboard a U.S. military plane that flew to El Paso, on the Mexican border, from Apiay air base east of Bogota.

 

[speedpop]

I was going to wait until this topic sank to the bottom of the sea but I'll be nice

 

[whytemyke]

Yeah. I don't know how people here can sit and bitch about "OMG FILIBUSTER THEY GON TAKE IT!!!" but then they're slapped in the face with evidence like this that, if connected to the military (which I'm fairly certain is the case) proves that every war we've fought in the last 20 years is nearly a complete fabrication used to stir up political poll points for politicians and kick the military industry into gear for money, and nobody even gives a shit.

BUT AT LEAST THEY ARENT TOUCHING SOCIAL SECURITY!!!

 

[Pimpwerx]

On a related note, how about the soldier who shot that Iraqi guy on tape? He wasn't charged according to NPR this morning. That's a fucking travesty. And they're acquitting these military fuckups left and right with no complaint from the media. Such is the state of the US today, I guess. PEACE.

 

[ShadowRed]

On a related note, how about the soldier who shot that Iraqi guy on tape? He wasn't charged according to NPR this morning. That's a fucking travesty. And they're acquitting these military fuckups left and right with no complaint from the media. Such is the state of the US today, I guess. PEACE.

You know what's really fucked up. This guy was on tape shooting this Iraqi, for everyone to see, and he gets off, but during the elections the conservatives were running around screaming about John Kerry shooting an unarmed VC, even though they were not there and the people who were there said that he didn't shoot an unarmed guy.

 

[whytemyke]

at least the soldier could say he was acting in accordance with ROE. This is clearly a situation where these soldiers are CLEARLY supplying arms to terrorist groups.

and a further note: both soldiers claimed their diplomatic immunity in Colombia and were released to the US Embassy this morning, and are now on their way home, if they're not home already.

And I haven't seen a single story about this on TV. THANKS NEWS!!!