As Mexico's war against the drug lord terrorists goes on and on, year after year with the government showing weakness, the "lords" get ever more brazen in their ferociousness to annihilate anyone who stands in the way of their pocketing the illicit gains of the Coca trade. Colombia has for the last few decades fought their own war with jungle guerrillas. But the last two Presidents have shown a determination and cojones to rid their country of this evil plague and lawlessness. The Colombian people are to be commended for backing the government in their fight against this evil. LESSON: THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR A COMPLETE VICTORY OVER THE ENEMY: ONE MUST BE DEDICATED TO THIS ONE ABSOLUTE.
VITORY: Colombia's army blew away the field marshal of FARC's narco-terror war Wednesday, showing with a jolt that to win, it's terrorists who must "absorb" attacks, not innocents. Mexico and the U.S. have much to learn.
Seems the adage that Colombia is the only country where guerrillas die of old age isn't true anymore.
On Thursday, Colombia celebrated news of the demise of Jorge Briceno, military commander and second-highest chief of FARC. The 57-year-old terrorist went down in a hail of bombs and gunfire over three days in a jungle bunker near La Macarena.
The Colombian army suffered no deaths and left at least 20 guerrillas dead on the jungle floor. Briceno's demise marks the fourth knockout of FARC's seven-man "Politburo"since 2008.
"This is the most crushing blow against the FARC in its entire history," said Colombia's president, Juan Manuel Santos, speaking from the sidelines at the United Nations in New York.
To every other nation out there fighting a terror war, it's a lesson showing how it can be done.
First, it shows that in winning, history and continuity matter to the enemy. FARC, a Marxist terror group, has plagued Colombia since 1964. Briceno joined in 1975 and introduced cocaine trafficking to FARC's activities, extending the war.
He became a legend to many on the international left in the same way as FARC's original guerrilla mentor, Fidel Castro. Now that he's dead, there's no clear successor, leaving guerrillas to question what they fight for.
Briceno's demise also comes as the Colombian army has pounded the terror group in the south in a recent surge.
If this doesn't signal the end of Colombia's long-running guerrilla war, it's at least the beginning of the end — and its lessons should be heeded beyond Colombia's borders.
Colombia's war is in reality the southern flank of the same war that Mexico is fighting with its cartels — and that war is spilling over into the U.S. This is why Americans must pay attention.
The growing lawlessness on our border encompasses drugs, but also alien smuggling, kidnapping, counterfeiting and other acts of organized crime, with ties to global terror.
In Colombia's case, it brooks no talk about "absorbing" terror attacks, as President Obama recently suggested in the U.S. If anything, Colombia seems to have taken lessons from Gen. David Petraeus' surge in Iraq that took the war to the terrorists — and made sure they were the ones to worry about "absorbing" the attacks.
Second, the denial of any resemblance between the war Colombia fights and the war Mexico fights looks downright counterproductive. That's especially true since Colombia is winning its war, and decisively.
A mere two weeks ago, U.S. and Mexican leaders seemed to be going out of their way to deny that similarity.
President Obama attempted to soothe Mexico's hurt feelings by absurdly claiming that Mexico's economy was "progressive" — a ludicrous economic assertion — so there was no real comparison.
Instead of pretending they're above learning anything from Colombia, U.S. and Mexican leaders should closely watch how the leadership, determination, training and unified support from the public led to Colombia's victory.
Instead of responding to repeated political snubs and criticisms, Colombia took out Briceno, the terrorists' leader — and quietly showed the rest of the world how terror wars can be won.
It would be nice if the leaders of Mexico and the U.S., facing rising violence across their own border, showed the same will to win. READ "Colombia Shows Mexica How to Do It".
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