What Colombia's Daring Raid Can Teach The United States.(Periscope; GLOBAL WAR ON TERROR)

Byline: Steven Ambrus

The rescue of 15 military and civilian hostages by Colombia's Army on July 2 was more stealth and bewilderment than shock and awe. Instead of hitting the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) with air raids, the Army infiltrated the group and tricked its fighters into handing over prisoners to government forces. It was a strategy low on brute force and high on inside knowledge of the enemy. As such, it represents not only a major departure for Colombia but perhaps the best new model for combating terror groups worldwide.

Such an operation was unthinkable a decade ago, when Colombia's army seemed to be stalemated against the FARC, which then boasted 20,000 guerrillas and raked in hundreds of millions of dollars annually from drug smuggling and kidnappings. But a big increase in its military budget allowed Colombia to double the size of its armed forces to 500,000 and train more men in special operations. Then, after 9/11, Washington permitted U.S.-supplied aircraft and communications-intercepting equipment (previously restricted to narcotics stings) for counterterrorism use.

Colombia's army began going after FARC strongholds via small units with helicopter support. The troops also redirected their focus from body counts to capturing the FARC's leadership and rescuing hostages. In 2003, Bogota also intensified its information war, ...