>1. US media "Body Count" games begin in Plan Colombia >2. ACTION: Oprah to host Gore on Monday - send in your questions >3. ACTION: Protest Time's false reporting on Colombian guerrillas >4. New listserve in Spanish & English: colombia-andes > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > >September 2, 2000, NarcoNews > >US Media "Body Count" Games Begin in Plan Colombia >By Al Giordano > >As the US media argues about whether "Plan Colombia" is another Vietnam, >another El Salvador, or none of the above, the behavior revealed by US >press coverage of the first major battle in the Plan Colombia war is >distinctly reminiscent of the 1960s. > >During the Vietnam War, US media outlets -- now documented by hundreds >of books and scholarly studies -- consistently lied about the "body >count." That is to say, more "enemy deaths" would be reported than >occured and always the goal was to keep the "allied" body count at a >number less than "enemy" casualties. > >The first major Post-Clinton visit battle in Colombia occured in the >pre-dawn hours this morning. Six hundred guerrilla troops attacked a key >Colombian military communications installation near Pueblo Rico (site of >a recent paramilitary atrocity against civilians). > >The first English-language report came from Associated Press. It noted >that a US-made C-47 phantom airplane "crashed" into a mountain at dawn, >with loud official denials that it had been shot down by the Colombian >rebels. (If true that it simply "crashed," what does that say about the >quality of US training of Colombian pilots and troops?): > > "The C-47 airplane outfitted with .50-caliber machine guns > crashed at about 5 a.m. as it was heading back to base from > the scene of the fighting, a government military officer said > on condition of anonymity. The fighting has been centered at a > main communications complex on Mount Montezuma, 155 miles west > of the capital, Bogota. > > "There was no word on how many people were aboard the plane, > and the military officer said it was not clear if there were > survivors. He denied that the plane had been shot down, saying > it apparently crashed because of a "technical failure." > >Meanwhile, in the ground war battle, the AP reported the death of "8 >Colombian soldiers" and "12 rebels" -- the implication being that the >score is 12 to 8 in favor of Plan Colombia: > > "At least eight government soldiers and 12 rebels died in the > ground combat at a communications complex on Mount Montezuma, > 155 miles west of the capital, Bogota. The clash was the > bloodiest since President Clinton visited Colombia on > Wednesday to support President Andres Pastrana's fight against > drug traffickers and leftist rebels who protect drug crops." > >Thus, the shrill insistence that the US war plane was not downed by >rebels, because seven more military soldiers and pilots died in that >crash, reversing the "body count" score from 12 to 8 in favor of the >military, to 15 to 12 (plus a C-47 war plane!) in favor of the rebels. >Associated Press continues: > > "Air Force Gen. Jairo Garcia insisted the plane was not shot > down. He said poor visibility may have been a factor, because > the crash happened just before dawn in cloudy weather. > > "The plane, which was used extensively by U.S. forces during > the Vietnam War and was known as "Puff the Magic Dragon," had > been providing fire support for the ground troops. > > "The Pentagon had equipped the plane with Forward-Looking > Infrared Sensors, or FLIRS, and night-vision goggles, said > Gen. Alfredo Velasco, Colombia's air force chief. The pilots > had been trained in night-flying either by U.S. military > pilots or by other Colombian pilots who had received training > from the Americans, Velasco told reporters. > > "The fighting began Friday afternoon at the communications > complex, which controls cellular and other telephone links to > much of western Colombia." > >The rebel forces have not yet been quoted in the English-language press >on their "body count" statistics nor their version of how the war plane >was downed. Most probably they are still in battle and not issuing press >releases. Nor does the press, even exclusively with "official" sources, >say that the communications systems that were target of the attack >remained unscathed. Sometimes what they don't say is as revealing as >what they do say. > >Meanwhile, the Mexican news wire service NOTIMEX, with correspondents in >Colombia, says that among the 15 Colombian casualties was a high-ranking >colonel, leader of a key division, and other military brass: > > (President Pastrana) "visited the family of the commander of > the San Mateo Battalion, Colonel Jorge Eduardo S=E1nches, who > died in the rebel attack on the Army communication post.... In > the action, attributed to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of > Colombia (FARC), a major official, a submajor official and six > soldiers lost their lives guarding the military base that was > attacked with rockets and grenades." > >And the daily El Tiempo, of Bogot=E1, cleared up the matter of whether >rebels had succeeded in their objective of downing the vital >communications post: > > "After the battle, communication with the military base in the > mountains was lost." > >Meanwhile, Reuters reports (in Spanish) of another simultaneous battle >in which the guerrilla won the day: > > "In addition to the battles and the military plane accident, > the FARC attacked a prison in the Southwestern state of Cauca > and liberated 60 prisoners." > >Nothing, yet, in English, on this battle, won by the guerrilla. > >So as the North American media debates whether Plan Colombia is "another >Vietnam," watch the media's deeds instead of its words. Because already >the English-language press is behaving like it did decades ago with its >"body count" games and selective coverage of the Vietnam conflict. > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > >>From Rainforest Action Network (8/7/00): > >**Quick Internet Action for the U'wa People** > >This Monday, September 11th, Vice President Al Gore will be on the >season premiere of the Oprah Winfrey show. On the Oprah website there >is a page where viewers of the show can suggest interview questions for >Gore. We can use this opportunity to challenge Gore on his silence >around the U'wa struggle to stop Occidental's oil project on their >ancestral territory. If Oprah gets a substantial number of messages, >there is a good chance that she will question Gore about the U'wa. The >Oprah show will most likely be taped in the coming days, so questions >should be into the website ASAP. > >- Go to http://www.oprah.com >- Click on the flag that says "Al Gore Season Premiere Sept. 11." >- At the bottom of the personal information form there is a space > to enter your question. > >Take this quick and easy action and ask Gore what he plans to do for the > >U'wa!! > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > >Yesterday, there was a TERRIBLE article posted on the Time website >titled, Ice Cream, E-mail and Casual Sex: Life among Colombia's >Guerrillas. The writer claims to be portraying life in San Vicente del >Caguan and the Zona Despejada (cleared out zone), the area under the >control of the FARC. Not only is the article an insult to any reader's >intelligence, it's also packed with lies. Please, take a minute to >review the article, and then send Time & the author a piece of your >mind. > >http://www.time.com/time/daily/0,2960,54220-101000907,00.html > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > >[ingles abajo] > >Bienvenid@ a la lista colombia-andes, una lista abierta y no moderada >cuyo objetivo es facilitar la coordinacion de acciones contra el Plan >Colombia y contra la intervencion de paises occidentales (especialmente >los EE.UU.) en la region andina. > >Para enviar mensajes a la lista, solo tienes que enviarlos a la >direccion [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Esperamos que todos los mensajes sean enviados en ingles y en >castellano, pero esto depende de la posibilidad de encontrar a >traductor@s. Por tanto, pedimos a todo el mundo que por favor busquen >posibilidades de traduccion a nivel local: es mas rapido mas seguro que >esperar que alguien de la lista traduzca tus mensajes. > >A l@s angloparlantes les recomendamos tambien suscribirse a la lista >moderada [EMAIL PROTECTED] pues es una buena fuente de >informacion, especialmente articulos de prensa estadounidense e >informacion sobre la involucracion del gobierno de EE.UU. en la region. >Dado que solamente l@s moderador@s pueden enviar mensajes a esta lista, >el volumen de correos es bastante bajo. Para suscribirte, envia un >mensaje vacio a [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >****************** > >Welcome to the colombia-andes email list, an open and unmoderated list >aimed at facilitating the coordination of actions against the Colombia >Plan and against the intervention of Western powers (the USA in >particular) in the Andean region. > >To send messages to members of this group, simply send email to >[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Hopefully all postings will be sent at least in Spanish and English, but >this depends mainly on the willingness and ability of people to find >translators for their postings. So please do try to find people with >translation skills around you: it is faster and more secure than hoping >that someone from the list will translate your messages. > >For the English-speakers, we recommend you to also join the moderated >list [EMAIL PROTECTED] which is a good source of information, >especially press reviews and information regarding the US involvement in >the region. Since only the moderators can post messages in this list, >the volume is quite low. To subscribe send a message to >[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > >[Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > >Knowledge is Power! >Elimination of the exploitation of man by man >http://www.egroups.com/group/pttp/ >POWER TO THE PEOPLE! > >Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Change Delivery Options: >http://www.egroups.com/mygroups > > _______________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi _______________________________________________________ Kominform list for general information. Subscribe/unsubscribe messages to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Anti-Imperialism list for anti-imperialist news. Subscribe/unsubscribe messages: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________________
