Contratistas secuestrados por las FARC

[Esteban]

jajaja, pero quién te pregunta esas cosas?

[kilo009]

¡Qué bueno! Oye, conoces a Loopster, mmm, creo que sí, mm, espera que piense

PD: Eso es lo que contestaría yo dos horas más tarde si me preguntan por mi mismo

[Loopster]

Pues desde los EEUU que me han tenido otras tres horas el teléfono, ha sido realmente gracioso porque me ha entrado un ataque de risa. Hombre, ya sabían quien era (no es que abunden los españoles metidos en esto) pero querían confirmarlo, ha sido un buen punto porque había uno que no paraba de insistir en que no era posible

¿Estrenaste el merchandising, Esteban?

[troglodita]

supongo que no se creeran que haya españoles tan buenos
Ellos con su egocentrismo absoluto
))aunque no se les puede negar que se crean el centro del mundo..porque lo son((XDDDD

jajaja, y al final ¿le contestaste?que le dijiste que no eras tú¿?xDD

por cierto ya que se desvirtuo el tema, aprovecho
como finalizó el sgsi group¿?con sus clases de judo verbal y que pertenecian a la asociación y que no era cierto y todo eso?

[Loopster]

Sigo diciendo que esa "empresa" es más falsa que un billete de 7,99€. Vamos, lo de la llamada desde el Kurdistán con una calidad de sonido que ríete de una videoconferencía de la OTAN, o que ellos empleaban Rebecos, esas fotografias de un agente del DSS y un soldado australiano que decía el tio que eran "sus hombres", joder, lo peor fue ¡¡una foto de Gary Hamm y el tio diciendo que era él en el Kurdistán!!

Si, les dije que era yo, tampoco tengo ningún problema en "revelar mi identidad", de todas formas estaba hablando con ellos por el móvil y habremos cambiado una treintena de emails, vamos que me conocen (casi del todo) bien. Lo que les mosquea es como acaba un español con cierto carné

[troglodita]

pues ojalá que no acabes como la mayor parte de españoles que triunfan en su sector, es decir, que vayas allí fijo y te olvides de nosotros..

sino; no habrá nadie más que lo consiga, tipo.. la ayuda que no pudiste recibir tú.



Pues lo que no comprendo de sgsi es que a nadie le moleste, y que nadie emprenda acciones contra ellos, que se llamen la primera PMC IBERICA
me parece muy fuerte siendo todo mentira.

Por cierto, ya soy un año mayor,xDDDD para el CV

Loopster, te mande un mp con una pregunta, por si me podrías aconsejar, gracias.

[Loopster]

Volviendo a los contratistas secuestrados por las FARC, artículo del último número de Serviam:

American Defense Contractors Mark Five Years as Hostages
By James T. deGraffenreid, publisher, Serviam

Would the American public tolerate another hostage crisis in which armed fanatics held U.S. diplomats or soldiers captive for year after year?

Of course not.

Why the double standard with American civilians who work on contract for the Pentagon?

February 13 marks the fifth anniversary of the kidnapping of three American defense contractors by Colombian narcoterrorists. Thomas Howes, Keith Stansell and Marc Gonsalves were flying a counternarcotics mission on contract for the U.S. Department of Defense in 2003 when their plane went down in territory controlled by Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) insurgents. The FARC captured and quickly murdered pilot Thomas Janis, an American citizen, and Colombian intelligence officer Luis Alcides Cruz, and took Howes, Stansell and Gonsalves hostage.

The Americans were contract employees of Northrop Grumman’s California Microwave Systems subsidiary, which ran the US SOUTHCOM Reconnaissance System on contract to collect intelligence in FARC-dominated areas in Colombia. FARC receives territorial sanctuary and other forms of support from the government of Venezuela.

Janis, a decorated Vietnam veteran, was a retired Army chief warrant officer. “I did my darndest to talk him out of the job,” said his widow, Judith, “but Tom was a soldier and this was just another way of being a soldier.”

Unlike soldiers, who usually are sent into combat zones with plenty of backup, the Pentagon contractors did their dangerous work with no significant military support. And that’s the point: Contractors at the tip of the spear often operate in far more dangerous conditions than our uniformed warfighters. When they get in trouble, they’re often on their own.

Captive Howes is an experienced counternarcotics pilot. Stansell is a systems analyst. Gonsalves is an imagery processor. Their families, who visited Colombia together last September, are suffering beyond belief.

The State Department reports that the Colombian government has been extraordinarily helpful in trying to release the Americans. Congressional pressure on the Colombian government to secure the hostages’ release, however, has been misguided. President Alvaro Uribe is a staunch U.S. ally and sworn enemy of the FARC narcoguerrillas. Uribe, whose father was murdered by terrorists, needs no incentives and certainly no pressure. He planned military operations to rescue the hostages, but held back because of the high probability that the American captives would be killed in the process. Uribe has been trying to get Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez, who sympathizes with the FARC, to secure the hostages’ release. As of this writing, Chavez has failed to do so.

Senator Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) has been one of the captured private military contractors’ main champions on Capitol Hill. “I have a special interest in the fate of Marc Gonsalves, whose mother, Jo Rosano, is a Connecticut resident. Marc’s father, George Gonsalves, is also a resident of our state. At every opportunity, I have worked to bring about the release of these three Americans,” Dodd said in a statement marking the kidnapping.

The Bush administration has worked closely with Colombia on the best means to secure the contractors’ release. Defense Secretary Robert Gates visited the country in October and came back convinced of President Uribe’s seriousness. “I know that Colombia is doing everything in its power to secure the release of the hostages, and anything we can do to help this process we would be happy to contribute,” the Pentagon chief said.

“Any attempt at a rescue would have to be very, very carefully thought through and [would depend on] the circumstances and the quality of intelligence,” Gates said after meeting with Uribe.

“Everything would have to be just right. Priority has to be on the safe return of the hostages. My view is that it probably requires more patience,” said Gates.

Maybe so. But have we really pulled out all the stops?

The State Department is offering up to $5 million for information leading to the apprehension or conviction of anyone involved in the murder of Janis or the kidnapping of the other three contractors through its Rewards for Justice program. Rewards for Justice funds secured actionable intelligence that enabled Colombia to capture a senior FARC member.

But again: Is the U.S. government really doing enough to free the American hostages? Is it really doing everything, the way we would expect it to do for our troops?

Somehow it doesn’t seem that way.

Another reason why the private military and security contractor business is so dangerous: Its people do the job that the military can’t or won’t do, and often without the protections they need.

[kilo009]

Chaval, Thomas Howes, Keith Stansell y Marc Gonsalves han sido liberados!!!!!

Operación del Ejército colombiano. Buen trabajo!!!

[yoyimbo]

Buen trabajo si... pero, SÓLO de los colombianos?? no se yo....

un saludo

[Loopster]

Nada más bajar del helicóptero los han metido en un jet privado rumbo a EEUU. Ahora a descansar y recuperarse, que se lo han ganado.

Felicidades al Ejército y los Servicios de Inteligencia de Colombia y demás participantes