Oliver North: The Other War on Terror

Sixteen civilians, including women and children, were slaughtered on New Year's Eve. A radio journalist was killed by motorcycle-riding assailants as he drove to work last Tuesday. A Catholic priest was murdered last month. The head of state has survived dozens of assassination attempts. Scores of locally-elected officials, mayors and police officers were killed last year. Death squads are not uncommon. Kidnappings, brutal murders of hostages and attacks on civil infrastructure by well-armed bands of terrorists are part of daily life. Notwithstanding the violence, Bush administration officials say that they are optimistic about the future. Quick! What country is this? If you guessed Iraq - you lose! It's Colombia - the other war on terror - the beleaguered democracy less than four hours by air from the United States - that has for more than three years escaped the attention of the so-called mainstream media. This lack of coverage is significant. Though the axiom, "if it bleeds it leads" prevails in most U.S. reporting from Iraq, the potentates of the press have largely ignored what's been happening in Colombia. Perhaps that's because the real story is so hopeful - leading to a conclusion that patient, persistent U.S. assistance really works. And because that's a lesson applicable to Iraq, it has little appeal to the prognosticators of gloom and doom who occupy our editorial suites. What the barons of bombast have chosen not to report are the signs of genuine progress being made in ending decades of bloodletting.

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