Plan Afghanistan Can Work

Colombia's former president says that the U.S. counterterrorism model from Latin America can work in Central Asia -- but only if the civil sector gets involved.

BY ALVARO URIBE VÉLEZ | DECEMBER 13, 2011

In a recent piece in Foreign Policy, Paul Wolfowitz and Michael O'Hanlon advocate the "Colombia model" as a potential long-term strategy for Afghanistan. They note similarities between the ongoing security challenges in Afghanistan and those that Colombia dealt with over the past few decades. Like Afghanistan today, Colombia faced a multi-decade terrorist threat fueled by radical ideologies, drug profits, hostile neighbors, forbidding terrain, and a weak central government. Colombia, they argue, was able to beat back the threat though "a combination of brave actions by the Colombian military, some $7 billion in U.S. assistance, a relatively small number of U.S. military advisors and, particularly, the strong leadership of President Alvaro Uribe from 2002 to 2010."

There is much to recommend in the argument. Comparisons between countries as different as Colombia and Afghanistan are necessarily imperfect, but ongoing events have only strengthened the parallels between the two situations. The mission in Afghanistan suffers from the same pessimism and waning confidence that afflicted Colombia's counterterrorism efforts. By the late 1990s, many in the international community concluded that the Colombian government was incapable of ever dealing with narco-terrorism and several international agencies even assessed that Colombia was on the brink of becoming a failed state. 

The current reconciliation talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban seem to be heading in the same direction as the peace process that the Colombian government initiated with FARC insurgents from 1999-2002. So long as the Colombian government proved incapable of securing key population centers and addressing terrorist sanctuaries, neither the FARC nor its far-right counterparts were willing to negotiate in good faith or agree to a ceasefire. The same is likely to be the case with the Taliban, Haqqani network, and other terrorist groups in Afghanistan.

Wolfowitz and O'Hanlon rightly credit improvements in traditional security capabilities, military and civilian assistance from the United States, and effective presidential leadership for Colombia's turnaround. But these factors alone could not have achieved the degree of progress the country witnessed. By 2010, for example, kidnappings were down 90 percent, the homicide rate fell by half, and tens of thousands of fighters were disarmed and demobilized, with some of the deadliest kingpins extradited to U.S. prisons.

 SUBJECTS:
 

Alvaro Uribe Vélez is the former president of Colombia.

PECHORIN

9:17 PM ET

December 13, 2011

With greatest respect for the author,

No one can deny the efficacy of Plan Colombia, or President Uribe's commitment to carrying it out, but there remain significant reasons to doubt that it could be applied in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan's non-drug economy is much weaker than Colombia's, as is it's civil society, as is it's nationhood (being an ethnic patchwork.) There's also the massive and unparalleled problem of Pakistan: so long as the ISI assists and provides safe haven for extremist groups there can be no success in Afghanistan.

We're better off out.

 

MIRANDAVERHOEVEN

9:23 PM ET

December 13, 2011

Don't think it gonna work

I don't believe the plan in Afghanistan can work, because the shouldn't be there in the first place zoekmachine optimalisatie

 

DUSTINCARROLL

4:39 AM ET

December 14, 2011

I don't think so !

Why not, I think this plan can work ? let's waiting !

Angry Birds T-Shirt

 

REEMAAMIRKHAN

7:58 AM ET

December 14, 2011

USA go out

This image shows the average temperature profile through the Earth’s atmosphere. Temperatures in the thermosphere are very sensitive to solar activity and can vary from 500°C to 1500°C. Source: Windows to the Universe, (http://www.windows.ucar.edu), the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR). ©1995-1999, 2000 The Regents of the University of Michigan; ©2000-04 University Corporation for Atmospheric Research.

Rain, for one, is ‘returned’ to Earth by the clouds in the atmosphere. Explaining the hydrologic cycle, Encyclopedia Britannica writes:

“Water evaporates from both the aquatic and terrestrial environments as it is heated by the Sun’s energy. The rates of evaporation and precipitation depend on solar energy, as do the patterns of circulation of moisture in the air and currents in the ocean. Evaporation exceeds precipitation over the oceans, and this water vapor is transported by the wind over land, where it returns to the land through precipitation.”[2]

Not only does the atmosphere return what was on the surface back to the surface, but it reflects back into space that which might damage the flora and fauna the earth sustains, such as excessive radiant heat. In the 1990’s, collaborations between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) of Japan resulted in the International Solar-Terrestrial Physics (ISTP) Science Initiative. Polar, Wind and Geotail are a part of this initiative, combining resources and scientific communities to obtain coordinated, simultaneous investigations of the Sun-Earth space environment over an extended period of time. They have an excellent explanation of how the atmosphere returns solar heat to space.[3]

Besides ‘returning’ rain, heat and radio waves, the atmosphere protects us like a ceiling above our heads by filtering out deadly cosmic rays, powerful ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the Sun, and even meteorites on collision course with Earth.[4]

Pennsylvania State Public Broadcasting tells us:

“The sunlight that we can see represents one group of wavelengths, visible light. Other wavelengths emitted by the sun include x-rays and ultraviolet radiation. X-rays and some ultraviolet light waves are absorbed high in Earth’s atmosphere. They heat the thin layer of gas there to very high temperatures. Ultraviolet light waves are the rays that can cause sunburn. Most ultraviolet light waves are absorbed by a thicker layer of gas closer to Earth called the ozone layer. By soaking up the deadly ultraviolet and x-rays, the atmosphere acts as a protective shield around the planet. Like a giant thermal blanket, the atmosphere also keeps temperatures from getting too hot or too cold. In addition, the atmosphere also protects us from constant bombardment by meteoroids, bits of rock and dust that travel at high speeds throughout the solar system. The falling stars we see at night are not stars at all; they are actually meteoroids burning up in our atmosphere due to the extreme heating they undergo.

This image shows the average temperature profile through the Earth’s atmosphere. Temperatures in the thermosphere are very sensitive to solar activity and can vary from 500°C to 1500°C. Source: Windows to the Universe, (http://www.windows.ucar.edu), the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR). ©1995-1999, 2000 The Regents of the University of Michigan; ©2000-04 University Corporation for Atmospheric Research.

Rain, for one, is ‘returned’ to Earth by the clouds in the atmosphere. Explaining the hydrologic cycle, Encyclopedia Britannica writes:

“Water evaporates from both the aquatic and terrestrial environments as it is heated by the Sun’s energy. The rates of evaporation and precipitation depend on solar energy, as do the patterns of circulation of moisture in the air and currents in the ocean. Evaporation exceeds precipitation over the oceans, and this water vapor is transported by the wind over land, where it returns to the land through precipitation.”[2]

Not only does the atmosphere return what was on the surface back to the surface, but it reflects back into space that which might damage the flora and fauna the earth sustains, such as excessive radiant heat. In the 1990’s, collaborations between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) of Japan resulted in the International Solar-Terrestrial Physics (ISTP) Science Initiative. Polar, Wind and Geotail are a part of this initiative, combining resources and scientific communities to obtain coordinated, simultaneous investigations of the Sun-Earth space environment over an extended period of time. They have an excellent explanation of how the atmosphere returns solar heat to space.[3]

Besides ‘returning’ rain, heat and radio waves, the atmosphere protects us like a ceiling above our heads by filtering out deadly cosmic rays, powerful ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the Sun, and even meteorites on collision course with Earth.[4]

Pennsylvania State Public Broadcasting tells us:

“The sunlight that we can see represents one group of wavelengths, visible light. Other wavelengths emitted by the sun include x-rays and ultraviolet radiation. X-rays and some ultraviolet light waves are absorbed high in Earth’s atmosphere. They heat the thin layer of gas there to very high temperatures. Ultraviolet light waves are the rays that can cause sunburn. Most ultraviolet light waves are absorbed by a thicker layer of gas closer to Earth called the ozone layer. By soaking up the deadly ultraviolet and x-rays, the atmosphere acts as a protective shield around the planet. Like a giant thermal blanket, the atmosphere also keeps temperatures from getting too hot or too cold. In addition, the atmosphere also protects us from constant bombardment by meteoroids, bits of rock and dust that travel at high speeds throughout the solar system. The falling stars we see at night are not stars at all; they are actually meteoroids burning up in our atmosphere due to the extreme heating they undergo.

This image shows the average temperature profile through the Earth’s atmosphere. Temperatures in the thermosphere are very sensitive to solar activity and can vary from 500°C to 1500°C. Source: Windows to the Universe, (http://www.windows.ucar.edu), the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR). ©1995-1999, 2000 The Regents of the University of Michigan; ©2000-04 University Corporation for Atmospheric Research.

Rain, for one, is ‘returned’ to Earth by the clouds in the atmosphere. Explaining the hydrologic cycle, Encyclopedia Britannica writes:

“Water evaporates from both the aquatic and terrestrial environments as it is heated by the Sun’s energy. The rates of evaporation and precipitation depend on solar energy, as do the patterns of circulation of moisture in the air and currents in the ocean. Evaporation exceeds precipitation over the oceans, and this water vapor is transported by the wind over land, where it returns to the land through precipitation.”[2]

Not only does the atmosphere return what was on the surface back to the surface, but it reflects back into space that which might damage the flora and fauna the earth sustains, such as excessive radiant heat. In the 1990’s, collaborations between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) of Japan resulted in the International Solar-Terrestrial Physics (ISTP) Science Initiative. Polar, Wind and Geotail are a part of this initiative, combining resources and scientific communities to obtain coordinated, simultaneous investigations of the Sun-Earth space environment over an extended period of time. They have an excellent explanation of how the atmosphere returns solar heat to space.[3]

Besides ‘returning’ rain, heat and radio waves, the atmosphere protects us like a ceiling above our heads by filtering out deadly cosmic rays, powerful ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the Sun, and even meteorites on collision course with Earth.[4]

Pennsylvania State Public Broadcasting tells us:

“The sunlight that we can see represents one group of wavelengths, visible light. Other wavelengths emitted by the sun include x-rays and ultraviolet radiation. X-rays and some ultraviolet light waves are absorbed high in Earth’s atmosphere. They heat the thin layer of gas there to very high temperatures. Ultraviolet light waves are the rays that can cause sunburn. Most ultraviolet light waves are absorbed by a thicker layer of gas closer to Earth called the ozone layer. By soaking up the deadly ultraviolet and x-rays, the atmosphere acts as a protective shield around the planet. Like a giant thermal blanket, the atmosphere also keeps temperatures from getting too hot or too cold. In addition, the atmosphere also protects us from constant bombardment by meteoroids, bits of rock and dust that travel at high speeds throughout the solar system. The falling stars we see at night are not stars at all; they are actually meteoroids burning up in our atmosphere due to the extreme heating they undergo.

This image shows the average temperature profile through the Earth’s atmosphere. Temperatures in the thermosphere are very sensitive to solar activity and can vary from 500°C to 1500°C. Source: Windows to the Universe, (http://www.windows.ucar.edu), the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR). ©1995-1999, 2000 The Regents of the University of Michigan; ©2000-04 University Corporation for Atmospheric Research.

Rain, for one, is ‘returned’ to Earth by the clouds in the atmosphere. Explaining the hydrologic cycle, Encyclopedia Britannica writes:

“Water evaporates from both the aquatic and terrestrial environments as it is heated by the Sun’s energy. The rates of evaporation and precipitation depend on solar energy, as do the patterns of circulation of moisture in the air and currents in the ocean. Evaporation exceeds precipitation over the oceans, and this water vapor is transported by the wind over land, where it returns to the land through precipitation.”[2]

Not only does the atmosphere return what was on the surface back to the surface, but it reflects back into space that which might damage the flora and fauna the earth sustains, such as excessive radiant heat. In the 1990’s, collaborations between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) of Japan resulted in the International Solar-Terrestrial Physics (ISTP) Science Initiative. Polar, Wind and Geotail are a part of this initiative, combining resources and scientific communities to obtain coordinated, simultaneous investigations of the Sun-Earth space environment over an extended period of time. They have an excellent explanation of how the atmosphere returns solar heat to space.[3]

Besides ‘returning’ rain, heat and radio waves, the atmosphere protects us like a ceiling above our heads by filtering out deadly cosmic rays, powerful ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the Sun, and even meteorites on collision course with Earth.[4]

Pennsylvania State Public Broadcasting tells us:

“The sunlight that we can see represents one group of wavelengths, visible light. Other wavelengths emitted by the sun include x-rays and ultraviolet radiation. X-rays and some ultraviolet light waves are absorbed high in Earth’s atmosphere. They heat the thin layer of gas there to very high temperatures. Ultraviolet light waves are the rays that can cause sunburn. Most ultraviolet light waves are absorbed by a thicker layer of gas closer to Earth called the ozone layer. By soaking up the deadly ultraviolet and x-rays, the atmosphere acts as a protective shield around the planet. Like a giant thermal blanket, the atmosphere also keeps temperatures from getting too hot or too cold. In addition, the atmosphere also protects us from constant bombardment by meteoroids, bits of rock and dust that travel at high speeds throughout the solar system. The falling stars we see at night are not stars at all; they are actually meteoroids burning up in our atmosphere due to the extreme heating they undergo.

This image shows the average temperature profile through the Earth’s atmosphere. Temperatures in the thermosphere are very sensitive to solar activity and can vary from 500°C to 1500°C. Source: Windows to the Universe, (http://www.windows.ucar.edu), the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR). ©1995-1999, 2000 The Regents of the University of Michigan; ©2000-04 University Corporation for Atmospheric Research.

Rain, for one, is ‘returned’ to Earth by the clouds in the atmosphere. Explaining the hydrologic cycle, Encyclopedia Britannica writes:

“Water evaporates from both the aquatic and terrestrial environments as it is heated by the Sun’s energy. The rates of evaporation and precipitation depend on solar energy, as do the patterns of circulation of moisture in the air and currents in the ocean. Evaporation exceeds precipitation over the oceans, and this water vapor is transported by the wind over land, where it returns to the land through precipitation.”[2]

Not only does the atmosphere return what was on the surface back to the surface, but it reflects back into space that which might damage the flora and fauna the earth sustains, such as excessive radiant heat. In the 1990’s, collaborations between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) of Japan resulted in the International Solar-Terrestrial Physics (ISTP) Science Initiative. Polar, Wind and Geotail are a part of this initiative, combining resources and scientific communities to obtain coordinated, simultaneous investigations of the Sun-Earth space environment over an extended period of time. They have an excellent explanation of how the atmosphere returns solar heat to space.[3]

Besides ‘returning’ rain, heat and radio waves, the atmosphere protects us like a ceiling above our heads by filtering out deadly cosmic rays, powerful ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the Sun, and even meteorites on collision course with Earth.[4]

Pennsylvania State Public Broadcasting tells us:

“The sunlight that we can see represents one group of wavelengths, visible light. Other wavelengths emitted by the sun include x-rays and ultraviolet radiation. X-rays and some ultraviolet light waves are absorbed high in Earth’s atmosphere. They heat the thin layer of gas there to very high temperatures. Ultraviolet light waves are the rays that can cause sunburn. Most ultraviolet light waves are absorbed by a thicker layer of gas closer to Earth called the ozone layer. By soaking up the deadly ultraviolet and x-rays, the atmosphere acts as a protective shield around the planet. Like a giant thermal blanket, the atmosphere also keeps temperatures from getting too hot or too cold. In addition, the atmosphere also protects us from constant bombardment by meteoroids, bits of rock and dust that travel at high speeds throughout the solar system. The falling stars we see at night are not stars at all; they are actually meteoroids burning up in our atmosphere due to the extreme heating they undergo.

This image shows the average temperature profile through the Earth’s atmosphere. Temperatures in the thermosphere are very sensitive to solar activity and can vary from 500°C to 1500°C. Source: Windows to the Universe, (http://www.windows.ucar.edu), the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR). ©1995-1999, 2000 The Regents of the University of Michigan; ©2000-04 University Corporation for Atmospheric Research.

Rain, for one, is ‘returned’ to Earth by the clouds in the atmosphere. Explaining the hydrologic cycle, Encyclopedia Britannica writes:

“Water evaporates from both the aquatic and terrestrial environments as it is heated by the Sun’s energy. The rates of evaporation and precipitation depend on solar energy, as do the patterns of circulation of moisture in the air and currents in the ocean. Evaporation exceeds precipitation over the oceans, and this water vapor is transported by the wind over land, where it returns to the land through precipitation.”[2]

Not only does the atmosphere return what was on the surface back to the surface, but it reflects back into space that which might damage the flora and fauna the earth sustains, such as excessive radiant heat. In the 1990’s, collaborations between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) of Japan resulted in the International Solar-Terrestrial Physics (ISTP) Science Initiative. Polar, Wind and Geotail are a part of this initiative, combining resources and scientific communities to obtain coordinated, simultaneous investigations of the Sun-Earth space environment over an extended period of time. They have an excellent explanation of how the atmosphere returns solar heat to space.[3]

Besides ‘returning’ rain, heat and radio waves, the atmosphere protects us like a ceiling above our heads by filtering out deadly cosmic rays, powerful ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the Sun, and even meteorites on collision course with Earth.[4]

Pennsylvania State Public Broadcasting tells us:

“The sunlight that we can see represents one group of wavelengths, visible light. Other wavelengths emitted by the sun include x-rays and ultraviolet radiation. X-rays and some ultraviolet light waves are absorbed high in Earth’s atmosphere. travel agency They heat the thin layer of gas there to very high temperatures. Ultraviolet light waves are the rays that can cause sunburn. Most ultraviolet light waves are absorbed by a thicker layer of gas closer to Earth called the ozone layer. By soaking up the deadly ultraviolet and x-rays, the atmosphere acts as a protective shield around the planet. Like a giant thermal blanket, the atmosphere also keeps temperatures from getting too hot or too cold. In addition, the atmosphere also protects us from constant bombardment by meteoroids, bits of rock and dust that travel at high speeds throughout the solar system. The falling stars we see at night are not stars at all; they are actually meteoroids burning up in our atmosphere due to the extreme heating they undergo.

Thanks

Admin of agenda software

 

ANINHAGG

3:38 PM ET

December 14, 2011

" USA go out "

i Agree in ....Temperatures in the thermosphere are very sensitive to solar activity and can vary from 500°C to 1500°C. Source: Windows to the Universe, (http://www.windows.ucar.edu)...thanks for sharing !

 

MARTY MARTEL

4:39 PM ET

December 14, 2011

Pipedream promoted by Mr. Velez

Mr. Velez’s pipedream is based on big ‘IF’.

International community will not engage and maligned if engaged to try to tackle corruption and rule of law in Afghanistan.

As long as Pakistan is allowed to get away with maintaining terror centers that fuel Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan, Afghanistan is doomed no matter how many plans and theories are advanced.

With an ally like Pakistan, US does not stand a chance to leave Afghanistan as it wants to.

 

ARNOKOPECKY

5:33 PM ET

December 14, 2011

"Public-Private Partnerships..."

It is true that FARC is all but destroyed in Colombia, and most indices of violence -- homicide and kidnapping in particular -- fell drastically during the author's two presidential terms, and GDP has risen. It is also true that over two million people, mostly peasants and Indians, were violently displaced from their lands over the same period, a drastic rise in Colombia's long-simmering problem of forced displacement that makes this the country with the highest number of internally displaced people on earth (now that Sudan has been split in two).
This displacement owes much to the "public-private partnerships" that Uribe speaks of so fondly, and which were indeed the backbone of his administration's policy of "Democratic Security." That is, the Uribe administration actively fostered the paramilitary networks that would become the single greatest source of forced displacement, before Uribe embarked on a much-publicized "demobilization" program that ignored the victims and paid the militias to lay down their arms (which in some cases they actually did). The "parapolitico" scandal linking one third of Colombia's politicians to paramilitary networks has been extensively documented; in the process of pacifying the countryside, Uribe's paramiltary forces cleared an area the size of Costa Rica to foreign investment, primarily in gold and oil exploration.
This is not in any to defend the FARC's motives or methods, which were horrific, but simply to point out that Uribe's tactics were little, if any, better. Given the millions of people Plan Colombia displaced, it seems to early to assert that Colombia's peace-making tactics are so worth replicating in Afghanistan.

 

XMASTER4000

5:36 PM ET

December 14, 2011

It depends on the Afghans themselves

President Uribe is tackling the critical point in modern asymmetrical warfare: you cannot win a civil war of this magnitude without the full commitment of civil society, specially around the country's main population centers. Winning hearts and minds was key for Plan Colombia's success, in that that country's population rejected the guerrillas for their gruesome tactics and choose to rally around the country's precarious public institutions instead, which adequately financed by both the US and a significant internal economy, managed to decisively defeat armed militias, reducing them to just about a minor nuisance nowadays.

For Afghanistan to succeed, Afghan civilians must reject terrorist ideology, promotion and activities with absolute determination, and provide vital support to the government armed forces, police and judiciary. But as long as the country remains a cradle for corruption, electoral fraud and public inefficiency, this support will be minimal,and extremism will continue to grow, even up to the point of bringing the entire state to the edge of collapse.

 

RICHARD BOOKER

6:31 PM ET

December 14, 2011

Not sure about the proposed model

Rain, for one, is ‘returned’ to Earth by the clouds in the atmosphere. I Don't think the colombian model will benefit in Afghanistan Dildo bestellen. Condooms

 

ENRIQUE DUARTE

2:09 AM ET

December 18, 2011

Some corrections

Just a couple of clarificactions:

"It is true that FARC is all but destroyed in Colombia, and most indices of violence -- homicide and kidnapping in particular -- fell drastically during the author's two presidential terms, and GDP has risen. It is also true that over two million people, mostly peasants and Indians, were violently displaced from their lands over the same period, a drastic rise in Colombia's long-simmering problem of forced displacement that makes this the country with the highest number of internally displaced people on earth (now that Sudan has been split in two)."

About this, I would say that over 2 million peopledisplaced did not happen during Uribe´s two terms, It was a process due to ongoing violence since the 50´s. What uribe did was to acknowledge a proble ignored by previous presidents and started a census of victims in order to give them governmental help. What you don´t see in Colombia (and you see in countries like Sudan and others) are large refugee camps of forced displaced people. In a way or another this people adapt to city life, and has been the main reason in Colombia rural population fell from 70% to 30% during the last 40 years.

"Uribe's paramiltary forces cleared an area the size of Costa Rica to foreign investment, primarily in gold and oil exploration."

This kind of statement would require at least some documentary support from a serious source. In my opinion is just made up. By the time Mr. Uribe got to office, paramilitars already controlled a thid of the congress and a third of Colombia´s territory (some other third was in hands of FARC). This situation changed drastically. Today, the main paramilitars are in american or colombian jails or in a tomb. Saddly, their narcotraffic bussiness are in hands of other rival cartels, and as soon as a cartel is distroyed, other 4 take place. Uribe´s main contribution was to put in colombians heads the idea that you have to be able to contrl 100% of the territory, not any kind of narcterrorist organization.

About american aid, I would say that it helped, but while plan Colombia gives $400 millions per year, Colombia invest in security and defense $15 billions per year.

 

ENRIQUE DUARTE

2:22 AM ET

December 18, 2011

Some corrections

Just a couple of clarificactions:

"It is true that FARC is all but destroyed in Colombia, and most indices of violence -- homicide and kidnapping in particular -- fell drastically during the author's two presidential terms, and GDP has risen. It is also true that over two million people, mostly peasants and Indians, were violently displaced from their lands over the same period, a drastic rise in Colombia's long-simmering problem of forced displacement that makes this the country with the highest number of internally displaced people on earth (now that Sudan has been split in two)."

About this, I would say that over 2 million peopledisplaced did not happen during Uribe´s two terms, It was a process due to ongoing violence since the 50´s. What uribe did was to acknowledge a proble ignored by previous presidents and started a census of victims in order to give them governmental help. What you don´t see in Colombia (and you see in countries like Sudan and others) are large refugee camps of forced displaced people. In a way or another this people adapt to city life, and has been the main reason in Colombia rural population fell from 70% to 30% during the last 40 years.

"Uribe's paramiltary forces cleared an area the size of Costa Rica to foreign investment, primarily in gold and oil exploration."

This kind of statement would require at least some documentary support from a serious source. In my opinion is just made up. By the time Mr. Uribe got to office, paramilitars already controlled a thid of the congress and a third of Colombia´s territory (some other third was in hands of FARC). This situation changed drastically. Today, the main paramilitars are in american or colombian jails or in a tomb. Saddly, their narcotraffic bussiness are in hands of other rival cartels, and as soon as a cartel is distroyed, other 4 take place. Uribe´s main contribution was to put in colombians heads the idea that you have to be able to contrl 100% of the territory, not any kind of narcterrorist organization.

About american aid, I would say that it helped, but while plan Colombia gives $400 millions per year, Colombia invest in security and defense $15 billions per year.

 

ENRIQUE DUARTE

4:06 AM ET

December 18, 2011

Some corrections

Just a couple of clarificactions:

"It is true that FARC is all but destroyed in Colombia, and most indices of violence -- homicide and kidnapping in particular -- fell drastically during the author's two presidential terms, and GDP has risen. It is also true that over two million people, mostly peasants and Indians, were violently displaced from their lands over the same period, a drastic rise in Colombia's long-simmering problem of forced displacement that makes this the country with the highest number of internally displaced people on earth (now that Sudan has been split in two)."

About this, I would say that over 2 million peopledisplaced did not happen during Uribe´s two terms, It was a process due to ongoing violence since the 50´s. What uribe did was to acknowledge a proble ignored by previous presidents and started a census of victims in order to give them governmental help. What you don´t see in Colombia (and you see in countries like Sudan and others) are large refugee camps of forced displaced people. In a way or another this people adapt to city life, and has been the main reason in Colombia rural population fell from 70% to 30% during the last 40 years.

"Uribe's paramiltary forces cleared an area the size of Costa Rica to foreign investment, primarily in gold and oil exploration."

This kind of statement would require at least some documentary support from a serious source. In my opinion is just made up. By the time Mr. Uribe got to office, paramilitars already controlled a thid of the congress and a third of Colombia´s territory (some other third was in hands of FARC). This situation changed drastically. Today, the main paramilitars are in american or colombian jails or in a tomb. Saddly, their narcotraffic bussiness are in hands of other rival cartels, and as soon as a cartel is distroyed, other 4 take place. Uribe´s main contribution was to put in colombians heads the idea that you have to be able to contrl 100% of the territory, not any kind of narcterrorist organization.

About american aid, I would say that it helped, but while plan Colombia gives $400 millions per year, Colombia invest in security and defense $15 billions per year.

 

ELEANORRALBER

4:24 PM ET

January 4, 2012

Colombia and Afghanistan are necessarily imperfect

There is much in order to recommend in the debate. Comparisons between nations as different because Colombia and Afghanistan are always imperfect, but continuing events have only increased the parallels between your two situations. The actual mission in Afghanistan is affected with the same pessimism as well as waning confidence which afflicted Colombia's counterterrorism efforts. Through the late 1990s, numerous in the international neighborhood concluded that the Colombian federal government was incapable of actually dealing with narco-terrorism and several worldwide agencies even evaluated that Colombia was around the brink of becoming an unsuccessful state. more information

 

DOMINOES

9:47 AM ET

January 9, 2012

Similar but not really

There are some similarities, but they are no where near the same and I think this comparison is very flawed. For one, in Colombia it was a straight drug war and not a war of terror, so it will be harder to stop than in Colombia, as it is religiously based and the terrorists are more dedicated than the Colombians. Yes there is a corrupt government and many innocent lives lost, but the same things will not work because the corruption in Afghanistan is so high. lake travis realestate, only time will tell what works or does not work in Afghanistan, but lets not try and make it like Colombia when it is not even close to the same.

 

YARINSIZ

1:11 AM ET

January 10, 2012

The sunlight that we can see

The sunlight that we can see represents one group of wavelengths, visible light. Other wavelengths emitted by the sun include x-rays and ultraviolet radiation. X-rays and some ultraviolet light waves are absorbed high in Earth’s atmosphere. They heat the thin layer of gas there to very high temperatures. Ultraviolet light waves are the rays that can cause sunburn. Most ultraviolet light waves are absorbed by a thicker layer of gas closer to Earth called the ozone layer. seslichat By soaking up the deadly ultraviolet and x-rays, the atmosphere acts as a protective shield around the planet. Like a giant thermal blanket, the atmosphere also keeps temperatures from getting too hot or too cold. In addition, the atmosphere also protects us from constant bombardment by meteoroids, bits of rock and dust that travel at high speeds throughout the solar system. The falling stars we see at night are not stars at all; they are actually meteoroids burning up in our atmosphere due to the extreme heating they undergo