By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS, Associated Press Writer
Sun Jun 8, 11:11 AM ET



WASHINGTON - The tricky politics of immigration, an issue once seen as a driving force of the 2008 election, have relegated it to a back but hot burner in the presidential campaign debate and paralyzed Congress on the topic.

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Both John McCain and Barack Obama support giving legal status to millions of illegal immigrants, a position that strategists see as crucial to winning over Hispanics. But Republican and Democratic candidates are also wary of alienating white conservatives and blacks who oppose granting legal status or benefits to people who broke the law to come to the United States.

The searing rhetoric from opponents who brand that idea as "amnesty" has made the topic virtually untouchable, according to strategists and lawmakers.

"Politicians from both parties are caught between Lou Dobbs voters and Latino voters. Presidential candidates will avoid this issue — both of them — and when they can't avoid it, they'll straddle," said Tamar Jacoby, president of ImmigrationWorks USA, a coalition pushing for an immigration overhaul. "It doesn't pay as an electoral issue."

The high-profile Dobbs is a CNN host who has used his early evening show as a platform to protest illegal immigration.

McCain and Obama have spoken of their support during the campaign for an immigration overhaul, but neither has made the issue a major part of his presidential bid. Each has reason to tread carefully.

McCain's position is a sore point between him and the conservative GOP base. He is caught between shoring up those core constituents and drawing support from Hispanics.

"He's trying to appeal to one group of voters that hates the other," said Cecilia Munoz of the National Council of La Raza.

Republican pollster Tony Fabrizio said it does not pay for McCain or GOP congressional candidates to highlight their party's rift on the issue. Those candidates lag far behind McCain in national polls that asking voters whether they support a Republican or Democrat for Congress.

"Why focus on what divides us?" Fabrizio said.

McCain sometimes has sent conflicting messages on immigration.

He hedged when asked whether, as president, he would sign legislation he helped write to legalize undocumented immigrants, and now says such action should only be taken after border security is strengthened. But he also publicly lamented the defeat of his measure, calling it "my failure, too."

For Obama, who is struggling to win over Latino voters, the predicament is less pronounced but no less puzzling. On immigration issues where he and McCain differ, Obama's views are out of synch with those of most voters, polls show.

Obama's support for giving drivers' licenses to illegal immigrants is a prime example; polls show that the public overwhelmingly opposes it. Obama also supports giving legal status to immigrants who were brought to the United States illegally as children and have completed two years of college or military service.

Democrats "do want to be out front on it, but they fear alienating those blue-collar, skeptical voters," Jacoby said.

Obama got a taste of that backlash recently. He drew heavy criticism in the blogosphere for suggesting that conservative cable TV hosts who routinely rail against illegal immigrants are partly to blame for an increase in hate crimes against Hispanic people.

"A certain segment has basically been feeding a kind of xenophobia," Obama said at a fundraiser in Palm Beach, Fla. "If you have people like Lou Dobbs and Rush Limbaugh ginning things up, it's not surprising that would happen."

The comment was a nod to a widespread feeling among Hispanic voters that bitter rhetoric against illegal immigrants is really veiled racism against U.S. citizens and legal residents who are Latino.

"The volatility of the issue discourages the national candidates from aggressively promoting the need for comprehensive immigration reform," said Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif. "When they're asked, they respond, but I've come to the conclusion that this campaign will not likely be a useful educational tool for demonstrating the compelling need for reform."

Candidates are finding other, less risky, ways to telegraph their sympathy for Hispanic voters.

McCain has a TV ad praising Hispanics' service in Vietnam and Iraq and saying that some "love this country so much that they're willing to risk their lives in its service in order to accelerate their path to citizenship." Obama spoke Spanish in an ad aired in Puerto Rico that focused on economic concerns.

In Congress, Democratic leaders are skittish about immigration votes. Instead, they are holding House hearings — but no votes — on a measure written by one of their more conservative members, Rep. Heath Shuler of North Carolina, to strengthen border security and crack down on employers who hire undocumented workers.

One Hispanic Democrat, Rep. Raul Grijalva of Arizona, said his leaders were being "spineless." Others argue that Republicans, who have made it a strategy to force politically painful immigration votes on unrelated bills, essentially have blackmailed Democrats into taking tougher stances on the issue.

In February, for example, Democrats joined Republicans to forbid illegal immigrants from getting an economic relief tax rebate.

More recently, Senate Democratic leaders were forced to pull provisions from an emergency Iraq spending bill that would have awarded work permits for immigrant farm and seasonal workers.

"Congressional Democrats are struggling to figure out whether they want to sound like Republicans-lite or whether they want to actually get out in front of the issue and lead," Munoz said.

Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., a supporter of a broad overhaul, said candidates in both parties face that dilemma.

"You have to ask yourself, `Do I want to really get out front on an issue that isn't really going anywhere and my opponent can demagogue it and misrepresent my position?'" Flake said. "If you're going to go out on a limb on something, there has to be a payoff, and on this, there just isn't."

By MICHAEL MELIA, Associated Press Writer
Sun Jun 8, 9:32 PM ET



SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - The Pentagon urged interrogators at Guantanamo Bay to destroy handwritten notes in case they were called to testify about potentially harsh treatment of detainees, a military defense lawyer said Sunday.

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The lawyer for Toronto-born Omar Khadr, Lt. Cmdr. William Kuebler, said the instructions were included in an operations manual shown to him by prosecutors and suggest the U.S. deliberately thwarted evidence that could help terror suspects defend themselves at trial.

Kuebler said the apparent destruction of evidence prevents him from challenging the reliability of any alleged confessions. He said he will use the document to seek a dismissal of charges against Khadr.

A Pentagon spokesman, Navy Cmdr. Jeffrey Gordon, said he was reviewing the matter Sunday evening.

The "standard operating procedures" manual that contained the purported instructions was made available to Kuebler last week as part of a pretrial review of potential evidence, the Navy lawyer said.

"The mission has legal and political issues that may lead to interrogators being called to testify, keeping the number of documents with interrogation information to a minimum can minimize certain legal issues," the document is quoted as saying in an affidavit signed by Kuebler.

The document could support challenges by other detainees to suppress confessions at Guantanamo, where the U.S. military says it plans to prosecute as many as 80 of roughly 270 detainees before the first U.S. war-crimes tribunals since World War II.

The case against Khadr, who was captured in Afghanistan when he was 15, is on track to be one of the first to trial. He faces war-crimes charges including murder for allegedly throwing a grenade that killed a U.S. Special Forces soldier during a 2002 firefight.

Kuebler said the nature of the interrogations is particularly relevant in Khadr's case because prosecutors are relying on evidence "extracted" from him at Bagram air base in Afghanistan and at Guantanamo.

"If handwritten notes were destroyed in accordance with the SOP, the government intentionally deprived Omar's lawyers of key evidence with which to challenge the reliability of his statements," Kuebler said in an e-mail to reporters.

The operations manual, which dates to January 2003, was attached to a 2005 report on an investigation into detainee abuse allegations at Guantanamo, Kuebler said. A summary of the findings was released at the time, but the defense lawyer said the section including the manual has not been made available publicly.

The so-called Schmidt-Furlow report documented degrading treatment, including one instance of a top terror suspect forced to dance with another man and behave like a dog. But investigators stopped short of saying torture occurred.

Brown announces tough Iran sanctions


LONDON, England (CNN) -- Britain and Europe are to agree tough new sanctions against Iran, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Monday following talks with U.S. President George W. Bush after which he also announced additional troops for Afghanistan.


Bush has denied a rift with Brown over iraq troop withdrawals.

Brown said new measures against Iran, including a freeze on overseas assets of the country's biggest bank, would be continue if the Islamic regime failed to address concerns over its nuclear ambitions.

"Action will start today in new phase of sanctions on oil and gas. We will take any necessary action so that Iran is aware of the choice it needs to make," Brown said.

Bush said he has not ruled out the use of force to end Iran's suspected nuclear weapons program, but added that he preferred to resolve the dispute diplomatically.

The UK leader gave no immediate details of the Afghanistan deployment, but said it would take Britain's presence to its highest level.

The additional forces will join Britain's existing troop presence in the southern Afghanistan province of Helmand, where allied forces are battling a resurgent Taliban.

Brown also ruled out any early withdrawal of British troops from Iraq -- a move that would upset the United States -- insisting forces would not be "traded" between Iraq and Afghanistan.

Bush, in Britain for the last leg of what is seen as his farewell tour of Europe before leaving the White House next year, praised Brown's commitment to Iraq, describing him as a "good partner."

Before their meeting, U.S. officials were forced to deny a rift between Brown and Bush over troops withdrawals from Iraq after a newspaper reported that the U.S. president was expected to urge the prime minister not to set a timetable.

Asked if he "got it wrong" on Iraq, Bush said: "History will judge the tactics.... Removing Saddam Hussein was not wrong. It was the right thing to do ... for 25 million Iraqis."

The two heads of state said they talked about Zimbabwe. Brown condemned what he said was a "criminal cabal" that "threatens to make a mockery of free and fair elections.


He called on Zimbabwean officials to accept international observers to monitor the June 27 presidential runoff election pitting long-time President Robert Mugabe against opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai.

Bush, meanwhile, said the United States could help calm tension along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, exacerbated by Afghan President Hamid Karzai's weekend threat to send troops into his neighbor's territory.

The U.S. president urged the two countries to continue their dialogue on how best to tackle militants who have been launching attacks against civilians inside both countries.

The leaders are now expected head to Belfast for talks with Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson and his deputy Martin McGuinness.
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Before arriving in Britain, Bush met Saturday with French president Nicolas Sarkozy, where talks also focused on Iran.

During his tour, which has called in at Slovenia, Germany, Italy and France, Bush has urged Europeans to stand firm with the United States as it seeks to transform the Middle East.


Source


They should be pulling out not sending more in.

Indication that two years will now be the norm for most, if not all I-485 petitions. Question is when , not if, will be fees go up again?

Hudson, I think you meant to have posted this in the immigration articles thread?

quote:

Originally posted by Hudson:
Indication that two years will now be the norm for most, if not all I-485 petitions. Question is when , not if, will be fees go up again?

CROSS POST...CROSS POST... OOPS Hudson ;-)

A historical rescue - good guys won over the bad

Freed hostage Ingrid Betancourt embraces children By FRANK BAJAK, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 13 minutes ago


Former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt embraced her children for the first time in six years Thursday, saying the thought of them helped her stay alive until a daring rescue plucked her and 14 other hostages from the jungle.

"Nirvana, paradise — that must be very similar to what I feel at this moment," Betancourt said, fighting back tears as her son reached over to kiss her. "It was because of them that I kept up my will to get out of that jungle."

On her first morning of freedom, Betancourt also visited the church that holds the remains of her father, who died while she was in captivity. Reporters and camera crews swarmed around her while adoring Colombians applauded as she left the church.

Betancourt raced to the stairway of the French government plane that flew her children to Bogota, throwing her arms around Lorenzo, 19, and Melanie, 22.

"The last time I saw my son, Lorenzo was a little kid and I could carry him around," she said. "I told them, they're going to have to put up with me now, because I'm going to be stuck to them like chewing gum."

Betancourt, 46, was airlifted to freedom Wednesday in an audacious operation involving military spies who tricked the rebels into handing over their most prized hostages — including three U.S. military contractors — without firing a shot.

The stunning caper involved months of intelligence gathering, dozens of helicopters on standby and a strong dose of deceit: The rebels shoved the captives, their hands bound, onto a white unmarked Mi-17 helicopter, believing they were being transferred to another guerrilla camp.

Looking at helicopter's crew, some wearing Che Guevara shirts, Betancourt reasoned they weren't aid workers, as she'd expected — but rebels. This was just another indignity — the helicopter "had no flag, no insignia." Angry and upset, she refused a coat they offered as they told her she was going to a colder climate.

But not long after the group was airborne, Betancourt turned around and saw the local commander, alias Cesar, a man who had tormented her for four years, blindfolded and stripped naked on the floor.

Then came the unbelievable words: "We're the national army," said one of the crewmen. "You're free."

The helicopter crew were soldiers in disguise. Cesar and the other guerrilla aboard had been persuaded to hand over their pistols, then overpowered.

"The helicopter almost fell from the sky because we were jumping up and down, yelling, crying, hugging one another," Betancourt said.

The mission — in which many military intelligence agents infiltrated the top ranks of the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC — snatched from the four foreigners who were its greatest bargaining chips, as well as 11 Colombian soldiers and police.

Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos said it "will go into history for its audacity and effectiveness." He also acknowledged the risks: "If this had failed, I would have had to resign," he told Caracol Radio on Thursday.

It was the most serious blow ever dealt to the 44-year-old FARC, which is already reeling from the recent deaths of key commanders and thousands of defections after withering pressure from Colombia's U.S.-trained and advised armed forces.

Colombia could be "at the end of the end" of its long civil conflict, armed forces chief Freddy Padilla told Caracol Radio Thursday. "We are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel."

But he warned that, even now, "the FARC has an enormous capacity for terrorism" and said, "the most difficult moments are yet to come."

In an apparently unrelated release, FARC guerrillas on Thursday freed Norwegian-Colombian hostage Alf Onshuus Nino, a 31-year-old mathematics teacher at the University of the Andes in Bogota, Norway's foreign ministry announced. Spokeswoman Kristin Melsom had no details about his release, but said it was unrelated to Wednesday's rescue.

Bjoern Omdal Onshuus, a relative, told Norwegian radio that a ransom had been paid. Norwegian news media earlier had reported the FARC was demanding 1 million kroner (US$200,000) for his release.

Many relatives of hostages have opposed rescue attempts, mindful of a botched 2003 operation in which rebels killed 10 hostages, including a former defense minister, when they heard helicopters approach. In Wednesday's operation, there were no such mistakes.

Through orders they believed came from top rebels, the hostages' handlers had maneuvered three separate groups of hostages to a rendezvous point in eastern Colombia's wilds for Wednesday's helicopter pickup.

"The helicopter was on the ground for 22 minutes," said army chief Gen. Mario Montoya, "the longest minutes of my life."

The agents had led Cesar to believe he was taking them to supreme rebel leader Alfonso Cano to discuss a possible hostage swap. A French and Swiss envoy was reported in the country seeking a meeting with Cano, so the operation's timing was perfect.

"It was an extraordinary symphony in which everything went perfectly," Betancourt said.

She appeared thin but surprisingly healthy as she strode down the stairs of a military plane and held her mother in a long embrace.

A flight carrying the Americans — Marc Gonsalves, Thomas Howes and Keith Stansell — landed in Texas late Wednesday after being flown there directly. They were to reunite with their families and undergo tests and treatment at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio.

U.S. Ambassador William Brownfield said the Americans were healthy and "very, very happy" but two suffered from the jungle malady leishmaniasis and were "looking forward to modern medical treatment."

President Alvaro Uribe, in a celebratory news conference flanked by the freed Colombian hostages, said he isn't interested in "spilling blood" and that he wants the FARC to know he seeks "a path to peace, total peace."

U.S. President George W. Bush said Thursday that Uribe had called a day earlier "to give me the good news," and said he congratulated the Colombian leader.

"I'm proud of our relationship with Colombia, and I'm proud of my friend," Bush said of Uribe.

Although only Colombians were directly involved in the rescue, Brownfield said "close" American cooperation included intelligence, equipment and "training advice."

"The rescue was long in the planning. We've been working with them for a long time. I'm not able to go into many specifics," White House press secretary Dana Perino said Thursday in Washington.

The two rebels overpowered on the helicopters will face justice, officials said. But the 58 left behind on the ground were allowed to escape as a goodwill gesture, Padilla said.

"If I had given the order to fire on them they would almost certainly all have been killed," he said. Another 39 helicopters had been standing by, prepared to encircle the rebels and hostages if the rescue failed, Santos said.

Betancourt was abducted in February 2002 while she was campaigning for president. The Americans were captured a year later when their drug surveillance plane went down in rebel-held jungle. Some of the others had been held for a dozen years.

Betancourt, a dual French national who grew up in Paris, had become a cause celebre across Europe. The office of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who had made Betancourt's liberation a priority of state, said Betancourt was expected to arrive in France on Friday.

Betancourt thanked Uribe, against whom she was running when she was kidnapped, and said he "has been a very good president."

However, she said, "I continue to aspire to serve Colombia as president."

___

Associated Press writers Vivian Sequera, Cesar Garcia, Ian James and Mauricio Diaz contributed to this report.

A pint of milk costs $3M Zimbabwe dollars

German firm halts bank note sales to Mugabe regime By MATT MOORE, AP Business Writer
Tue Jul 1, 4:30 PM ET



A German company that has been supplying paper used by Zimbabwe's central bank to print bank notes said Tuesday it is stopping shipments immediately at the request of Germany's government.

The move could be a new problem for the regime of President Robert Mugabe, which has been churning out currency amid skyrocketing inflation that forces Zimbabweans to shop with bundles of cash. A pint of milk can cost 3 billion Zimbabwe dollars, or about 30 U.S. cents.

Giesecke & Devrient GmbH of Munich said it would stop delivering bank note paper to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe "with immediate effect." It said the decision came in response to an official request from the German government and calls for international sanctions by the European Union and United Nations.

"Our decision is a reaction to the political tension in Zimbabwe, which is mounting significantly rather than easing as expected, and takes account of the critical evaluation by the international community, German government and general public," chief executive Karsten Ottenberg said in a statement.

Zimbabwe's currency needs have spiraled upward as a shattered economy spurs overheated inflation. Prices rose 165,000 percent in February, according to government figures, but independent experts say the real inflation rate is closer to 4 million percent.

Mugabe, who was sworn in as president for a sixth term Sunday after a widely discredited runoff election, was once hailed for leading Zimbabwe's independence fight. But he has grown increasingly unpopular for land seizures and other economic policies that wrecked the country's once-vibrant agriculture sector.

___

On the Net:

Giesecke & Devrient: http://www.gi-de.com

Paper its' printed on probably worth more than what it can buy.

quote:

Originally posted by Sabuntium:
Paper its' printed on probably worth more than what it can buy.

You may be right about that.

We're rank 16th!

Study: World Gets Happier LiveScience Staff

LiveScience.com
Mon Jun 30, 1:16 PM ET



Despite the anxieties of these times, happiness has been on the rise around the world in recent years, a new survey finds.


The upbeat outlook is attributed to economic growth in previously poor countries, democratization of others, and rising social tolerance for women and minority groups.


"It's a surprising finding," said University of Michigan political scientist Ronald Inglehart, who headed up the survey. "It's widely believed that it's almost impossible to raise an entire country's happiness level."


Denmark is the happiest nation and Zimbabwe the the most glum, he found. (Zimbabwe's longtime ruler Robert Mugabe was sworn in as president for a sixth term Sunday after a widely discredited runoff in which he was the only candidate. Observers said the runoff was marred by violence and intimidation.)


The United States ranks 16th.


The results of the survey, going back an average of 17 years in 52 countries and involving 350,000 people, will be published in the July 2008 issue of the journal Perspectives on Psychological Science. Researchers have asked the same two questions over the years: "Taking all things together, would you say you are very happy, rather happy, not very happy, not at all happy?" And, "All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole these days?"


A Happiness Index created from the answers rose in 40 countries between 1981 and 2007, and it fell in the other 12.


Scientists had thought happiness is stable over time when looking at entire societies. "Most previous research suggests that people and nations are stuck on a 'hedonic treadmill,'" Inglehart said. "The belief has been that no matter what happens or what we do, basic happiness levels are stable and don't really change."


So Inglehart's team was surprised that happiness "rose substantially." They speculate reasons for the sunny outlooks include societal shifts in recent decades: Low-income countries such as India and China have experienced unprecedented rates of economic growth; dozens of medium-income countries have democratized; and there has been a sharp rise of gender equality and tolerance of ethnic minorities and ***s and *******s in developed societies.


Previous research has found that happiness is partly inherited and that money doesn't buy much of it.


Yet the new survey finds people of rich countries tend to be happier than those of poor countries. And controlling for economic factors, certain types of societies are much happier than others.


"The results clearly show that the happiest societies are those that allow people the freedom to choose how to live their lives," Inglehart said.


A survey released last week found one reason America doesn't top the list: Baby Boomers are generally miserable compared to other generations. Further, a public opinion poll released by the Pew Research Center in April found that 81 percent of Americans say they believe the country is on the "wrong track." The response is the most negative in the 25 years pollsters have asked the question.


The World Values Surveys, led by Inglehart, was funded by the National Science Foundation, the Swedish and Netherlands Foreign Ministries, and other institutions.


The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Video: Why We Age Keys to Happiness and Why We Don't Use Them Top 10 Immortals Original Story: Study: World Gets Happier

Just in case some missed this nice report.

New Zealand is 15th! LOL.

quote:

Originally posted by Aroha:
New Zealand is 15th! LOL.

See? You'll only be slightly less happy here.

Wait... that doesn't sound right...

This is good news.

3 hostages rescued in Colombia return to US

By ELIZABETH WHITE – 20 hours ago

LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AP) — "Three American hostages rescued from leftist guerrillas in Colombia were back in the United States Thursday, more than five years after their plane went down in rebel-held jungle.

"They returned to the U.S. late Wednesday, as their plane landed at Lackland Air Force Base shortly after 11 p.m. All appeared well as they exited the Air Force C-17 without fanfare. The men were flown by choppers to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, where they were expected to undergo tests and be reunited with their families.

"The U.S. military contractors — Marc Gonsalves, Thomas Howes and Keith Stansell — had been held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia since their drug-surveillance plane went down in the jungle in February 2003.

"The three were rescued when Colombian spies tricked leftist rebels into handing them over along with kidnapped presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt. She was also freed Wednesday, as were 11 Colombian police and soldiers.

"Eric Atkisson of U.S. Army South, said Thursday the former hostages would not be speaking publicly Thursday.

"Howes is a native of Chatham, Mass.; Gonsalves' father lives in Hebron, Conn.; and Stansell's family lives in Miami. Relatives were headed to Texas, looking forward to reuniting in time for the Fourth of July holiday.

"Mike Gonsalves said on Thursday that the news of his brother's rescue was starting to feel more real. "It'll feel me real when I'm able to see my brother," Gonsalves, of Manchester, Conn., told CBS' "Early Show" in a phone interview before going to Texas.

"He looks good," the brother added. "They all look, you know, good for being what they went through — I think they look pretty good."

"He said the five years of waiting for news on his brother was hard.

"You just wait and you wait for news," he said. "You wait for a day like yesterday and today, you know, for the end, you. You want it to end."

"He said he hasn't been able to talk to his brother. "Today will be the first day," Gonsalves said.

"Golsalves' father, George Gonsalves, was mowing his yard when an excited neighbor relayed the news he had seen on television Wednesday.

"I didn't know how to stop my lawnmower," he said. "I was shocked. I couldn't believe it."

"Howes' niece, Amanda Howes, said the rescue "redefines the word miracle."

"Stansell's ex-wife, Kelly Coady of Sarasota, Fla., said his two children spent Wednesday packing for a trip to Texas to see their father and waited for hours for a call before Stansell finally called at 3:30 a.m. Thursday.

"He was in a very great state of mind," she said. "He's in a great mood, ready to see his kids."

"His daughter, 19-year-old Lauren, and his 16-year-old son Kyle left for Texas on Thursday morning along with Stansell's father and stepmother, Coady said.

"Stansell told his son and daughter that he received the radio messages they had sent to him over the years while in the jungle. "He told them that he was proud of them," said Coady. Stansell and his son Kyle "compared their weight and height" during the phone call and made plans for the future.

"They want to go fishing," Coady said.

"Long before their rescue, it seemed like any public efforts to rescue the hostages had disappeared.

"While France exhorted the world to care about the plight of Betancourt, who also holds French citizenship, and even sent a humanitarian mission in a failed rescue attempt this year, the U.S. government remained nearly silent about efforts to free the Americans, employees of a Northrop Grumman Corp. subsidiary that has supported Colombia's fight against drugs and rebels.

"Their families complained publicly about what seemed to be the U.S. government's failure to act.

"We didn't know what the **** was going on," George Gonsalves told reporters. "I'm getting information from you guys."

"The Americans' fate seemed particularly grim after "proof-of-life" images released in November showed them appearing haggard, even haunted, against a deep jungle background.

"The contractors and Betancourt were among a group of rebel-designated "political prisoners" whom the FARC planned to release only in exchange for hundreds of imprisoned rebels. But every attempt at talking about a prisoner swap seemed to go nowhere.

"Behind the scenes, however, Colombia's armed forces were closing in on the rebels, with the help of billions of dollars in U.S. military support.

"After the men were freed, U.S. Ambassador William Brownfield said U.S. and Colombian forces cooperated closely on the rescue mission, including sharing intelligence, equipment, training advice and operational experience.

"The Americans appeared healthy in a video shown on Colombian television, though Brownfield, who met with them at a Colombian military base, said two of the three were suffering from the jungle malady leishmaniasis and "looking forward to modern medical treatment."

"Gonsalves' father, who later got a phone call from the FBI confirming his son was free, expected an emotional family reunion, especially for his son's three children, now teenagers. "Think about your children if they don't see you for a week a weekend or a month," he said. "It's five years pulled out of your life."

Source