Venezuela 'sends tanks to border'

Infra_Man99 · Mar 12, 2008

Jeff Head said:
Here's my opinion on this point.

Colombia took a quantifiable risk to defend itself from leftist terrorists who have vowed to bring down the democratically elected government of Colombia, and who have waged war to accomplish that task. Colombia went into a remote area of a sanctuary country for these enemies and took a major enemy leader and his contingent down...knowing that the three leftists leaders in the region (Ecuador, Venezuela, and certainly Nicarauga) would not approve, but figuring that they could contain the political uproar while taking down a critically important threat to their nation...and doing so while being careful to not outright attack Ecuadoran infrastructure, military, or civilan population centers.

I believe Colombia was successful.

I also believe that the bravado from particularly Chavez was just that...bravado...particularly once his hand was found to be so abjectly in the cookie jar. Now it has cooled down, and I am grateful for that.

This is a very reasonable opinion that Colombia made a successful calculated strike against what it considered terrorists, and then cleaned up with good press relations and proper political rectification. Whereas Chavez was caught off-guarded throughout this entire incident and had nothing to show except bravado.

It is also possible that Colombia grossly overestimated its capabilities and support in Latin America, but Colombia realized it was setting itself up for a bigger disaster if Colombia continued to ignore other Latin American nations' concerns. This is why Colombia backed off its military operations and focused on cooperation.

In the end, I think things turned out for the better for Latin America (so far), because many Latin American nations came together and basically agreed to focus on friendship and avoid antagonism.

Pointblank · Mar 12, 2008

Infra_Man99 said:
This is a very reasonable opinion that Colombia made a successful calculated strike against what it considered terrorists, and then cleaned up with good press relations and proper political rectification. Whereas Chavez was caught off-guarded throughout this entire incident and had nothing to show except bravado.

It is also possible that Colombia grossly overestimated its capabilities and support in Latin America, but Colombia realized it was setting itself up for a bigger disaster if Colombia continued to ignore other Latin American nations' concerns. This is why Colombia backed off its military operations and focused on cooperation.

In the end, I think things turned out for the better for Latin America (so far), because many Latin American nations came together and basically agreed to focus on friendship and avoid antagonism.

I think it drove home the point that nations surrounding Colombia have to start doing something about the FARC that are using their territory as bases to launch attacks. The Colombians sent a message loud and clear: If you don't do something or activity assist us, we will do it ourselves.

Infra_Man99 · Mar 13, 2008

Pointblank said:
I think it drove home the point that nations surrounding Colombia have to start doing something about the FARC that are using their territory as bases to launch attacks. The Colombians sent a message loud and clear: If you don't do something or activity assist us, we will do it ourselves.

This is possible, but I don't think so, because in the summit, Columbia apologized for its actions and said it now would work with other nations instead of taking unilateral action. That is not a strong message of unilateralism. This is a message of we overestimated our capabilities and will now work with other nations. All involved Latin American nations basically made this agreement.

Jeff Head · Mar 13, 2008

Infra_Man99 said:
This is possible, but I don't think so, because in the summit, Columbia apologized for its actions and said it now would work with other nations instead of taking unilateral action. That is not a strong message of unilateralism. This is a message of we overestimated our capabilities and will now work with other nations. All involved Latin American nations basically made this agreement.

Those other nations also now see the need to work on the FARC issue as a result of the experience.

My guess is this. If those nations work with Colombia and try and stop FARC from using their nations as a sanctuary, then Colombia will honor the agreement.

However, Colombia has also shown a willingness and a capability to take out FARC contingents working right off its borders and if those nations make no effort to stop it, Colombia is likely to reach a point where it may act again.

It's a two way street. I am sure that Colombia does not want to cross the border...probably did not want to the last time. But they felt compelled to in the circumstances given the value of the target and the lack of support and the fact that it was in an area where they could do so with minimal risk.

Just my opinion.

Venezuela 'sends tanks to border'

Infra_Man99

Banned Idiot

Pointblank

Senior Member

Infra_Man99

Banned Idiot

Jeff Head

General