[idiom]

How is pretending to be the Red Cross (but not really) any better?

It still puts the Red Cross in danger.

[nickynicky]

Look atat agent try and put out the fire!

East, back up slowly and close the door, you didn't see anything.

[Plantagenet]

I think it would be great if CNN would actually buy the photos and show the secret pictures that CNN says a mysterious unnamed person showed them and tried to sell to them, causing CNN to write the story even though it didn't buy the pictures and doesn't actually have the secret pictures. If anyone has seen them then please post them or post a link to them. It would be very interesting to see the mysterious secret pictures that CNN is describing.

An alternative possibility that CNN apparently never thought of before they wrote their unsubstantiated story is that the mysterious pictures themselves are phony, and the mysterious person who showed them to CNN but asked a price too large for CNN to pay was a FARC agent who gulled CNN. IMHO, its equally likely this whole story is FARC disinformation.

CNN could resolve this by either actually buying the photos and showing the real photos to the world, or by releasing the name of the mysterious person so he will then be obligated to show the photos and tell his story.

[cowuvula]

They did the same thing in New York.
I remember the announcement over the news: Anyone with videos or pictures of the event, please turn them in to help the investiagation.

Hundreds of people submitted their film, never saw anything of them again.

I will not eat Datura stramonium, ( meaning "you cannot fool me".)

[Plantagenet]

It turns out the mean ol' Columbian Army tricked the poor little old FARC terrorists into releasing their hostages.....

[burtonridr]

That is SO fucked up! You should never ever do that!
Now anytime the red cross is going into an area people are going to wonder if it is really the red cross or someone using them as a shield. I guess it is no different than terrorists using temples and funerals and schools as shields.

[rockdoc123]

well the question I have is ....OK let's say they fooled the FARC into thinking they were Red Cross.
The whole premise of the ruse was the undercover military reps had convinced the actual FARC that the helicopters were provided by an NGO who was sympathetic to their cause so they could move the kidnap victims.
What that says to me is the FARC were familiar with getting help from the Red Cross and that they viewed the Red Cross as being sympathetic to their cause. I need to point out that this would be tatamount to the Red Cross providing support to Al Qaeda as both groups are on the list of terrorist organizations.

Whose the real bad guy here then?

[Twilight]

What that says to me is the FARC were familiar with getting help from the Red Cross and that they viewed the Red Cross as being sympathetic to their cause.

Or indifferent. A policy of asking the minimum questions necessary to do your job does not amount to sympathy. I see no need to leap to that conclusion.

Also, I still wonder at what point conflict journalists' mortality will skyrocket after covert operations render their credentials worthless.

[rockdoc123]

A policy of asking the minimum questions necessary to do your job does not amount to sympathy. I see no need to leap to that conclusion

Que? The "Red Cross" is providing helicopter service to a group of recognized terrorists for the means of transporting illegally held hostages. What questions would they have to ask to figure out that was wrong?

My point here is that if FARC accepted the idea that this is a natural thing then it probably means it has happened before. Doesn't take a big leap in logic to get to that conclusion.

[seahorse]

These guys are in SERIOUS trouble. I hope.

You're complaining about hostages being rescued without anyone, good or bad, getting killed? Hostages rescued after five years with chains around their necks, and you think the rescuers are the criminals?

[nickynicky]

With enough money all this will be covered up and you even wont remember it.

[dunewalker]

These guys are in SERIOUS trouble. I hope.

You're complaining about hostages being rescued without anyone, good or bad, getting killed? Hostages rescued after five years with chains around their necks, and you think the rescuers are the criminals?

seahorse, as I remember, you spent some time in the military, right? Then you must be aware of the situation regarding the Red Cross and international law. This ruse may have successfully rescued this batch of hostages, but surely will endanger many more lives in the future, from distrust of the true mission of any Red Cross-marked groups.

[seahorse]

Surely Dunewalker, that's a possibility (that FARC will be suspicious of Red Cross in the future), but what of the immediate danger to the hostages held for five years? Further, Rockdoc is right. It certainly appears that, with the FARC so willing to use Red Cross choppers, this was not their first time using the Red Cross and their helicopters, illegally, to move hostages. Its obvious then that the FARC, Columbian gov't, and everyone else in the world will continue to use/abuse the Red Cross. I feel fairly confident this isn't the first time the Red Cross has been abused. I'm glad the hostages are back. Regardless of who is right in that war, I'm against holding hostages. No one got killed, and the hostages are back with their families.

[eastbay]

These guys are in SERIOUS trouble. I hope.

You're complaining about hostages being rescued without anyone, good or bad, getting killed? Hostages rescued after five years with chains around their necks, and you think the rescuers are the criminals?

A: If they posed as or offered the impression they were part of the Red Cross, yes, they need to be prosecuted. Plus, they need some serious jail time it it's true.

[Plantagenet]

These guys are in SERIOUS trouble. I hope.

You're complaining about hostages being rescued without anyone, good or bad, getting killed? Hostages rescued after five years with chains around their necks, and you think the rescuers are the criminals?

A: If they posed as or offered the impression they were part of the Red Cross, yes, they need to be prosecuted. Plus, they need some serious jail time it it's true.

And that brings us back to the unproven claim that they pretended to be part of the Red Cross.

If you the article by CNN, you'll see that the Columbia military didn't pretend to be the Red Cross, they apparently established a phony "humanitarian organization," with a phony web site and a phony logo. The logo in the photo with the story isn't a Red Cross logo; its the fake logo of the phony organisation.

[eastbay]

And that brings us back to the unproven claim that they pretended to be part of the Red Cross.
If you the article by CNN, you'll see that the Columbia military didn't pretend to be the Red Cross....they apparently established a phony "humanitarian organization," with a phony web site and a phony logo. The logo in the photo with the story isn't a Red Cross logo...its the fake logo of the phony organisation.

If this is true we move on to something else. But if not... man, that would be HUGE!

[Plantagenet]

You are right, EastBay. It would be a big deal.

I wish CNN would just buy the d***n photos from the mystery guy and publish them.

Reading CNN's descriptions of the photos they didn't buy was like hearing somebody's describing the pictures in their old playboy magazines......Its not very interesting unless you can see it for yourself.

[Magus]

If this is true we move on to something else. But if not... man, that would be HUGE!

No need to wonder.
Uribe Admits Red Cross Emblem Used In Hostage Rescue

BOGOTA - Colombian President Alvaro Uribe acknowledged that his army used the Red Cross emblem in its bloodless July 2 rescue of 15 hostages, a move the humanitarian agency swiftly denounced as “abusive.”
Uribe allowed Wednesday that one army official wore a vest with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) emblem but said that it was because the official was nervous about the operation and there were many leftist rebels on the scene.
So “the official took a piece of cloth out of his pocket with the initials CICR (ICRC) on it, and he put it on his vest; we are sorry that this has happened,” Uribe said, suggesting there was no effort at deception.
CNN television reported that it had viewed unpublished photos and video of the rescue in which a military official is seen using the emblem of the international humanitarian organization, in what some said could be deemed a “war crime.”
Uribe said he presented his apologies to the ICRC on Wednesday morning, but Red Cross outrage over the incident was immediate.
“The emblem of the Red Cross needs to be respected in all circumstances and cannot be used in an abusive manner,” the ICRC said in a statement from Bogota.

Something tells me that there was more than one man wearing the symbol. In any case, thanks to these idiots, the lives of countless aid workers have now been put in jeopardy. Just one more war crime committed by America and it's Columbian lap-dogs.

Don't think anything will come of this little event; not in the short-term, anyway. The US has proven time and time again that it believes itself to be above the law. Thankfully, its time be over soon enough...then again, if your on this site, you already know.

[eastbay]

Thank you Magus for sharing this important news. Now we'll have to wait and see how it plays out, or not, as you suggest.

I'm telling you, this is unreal. I mean NO ONE pulls this sort of craziness and expects to get away with it ... well, almost no one.

[RSFB]

I know, I know, I thought the same thing when I saw the title.

Article

The Colombian government declared a state of emergency Monday, allowing officials to take over businesses that used pyramid schemes to steal millions of dollars from 3 million investors.

The government immediately took over 60 branches of a company called DMG and shuttered its doors.

The government says the businesses defrauded the public by purporting to offer a sure investment.