EDITORIAL
When all else failed, the Colombian army was forced to use stealth and guile. That was the happy news this week when one of the least violent military assaults in history rescued 15 hostages mistreated for years by the oldest surviving communist insurgency in the Western hemisphere.
Senator Ingrid Betancourt, three Americans and 11 members of the Colombian security forces are free in an operation right out of a paperback thriller.
Not only did the complicated and audacious plan spring the 15 most high-profile prisoners of the Farc group. By snatching its hostages without even firing a shot, it almost certainly will lead to a more rapid disintegration of the group.
There is a lot of credit to spread around for the freedom of former presidential candidate and corruption fighter Mrs Betancourt and others.
Outside the country, the US provided help against the Farc, which Washington has for good reason designated as a terrorist organisation. The French injected backbone when others said it was hopeless, or tried to block any rescue effort by the army. The Colombian military, from the top down, proved loyal, able to keep a secret, and tough. All the hostages maintained their honour under remarkable cruelty and frequent feelings of hopelessness.
President Alvaro Uribe deserves special praise. He never wavered in the face of propaganda attacks from pro-Farc groups demanding that he negotiate over the hostages. He stood up to domestic political criticism from those who were unaware of the lengthy ongoing plans to win freedom for the hostages.
It is well to recall the brutality of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (or Farc, from the initials in Spanish). The group kidnapped Mrs Betancourt while she was on a humanitarian mission which posed no danger to the guerrillas. To Farc, she and dozens of other captives were nothing but bargaining chips. Indeed, even as President Uribe and the army were painstakingly working on the plan to free her and other human pawns, there were widespread demands that the Colombian government trade Farc battlefield prisoners for the 46-year-old senator.
As Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, their friendly neighbour and suspected important sponsor told Farc recently, they have outlived their day - assuming they ever had one. No Marxist guerrilla force has ever seized power in South America. Over the past decade, the Farc has been far more often identified with drug smuggling, human trafficking and criminal enterprises than with revolution.
The urban-led guerrilla army should attempt to negotiate an honest surrender. While it is clearly on a decline, the Farc still maintains control of a significant part of Colombia. It might try to stage some sort of military offensive, but that will be a needless and tragic loss of life.
In addition to the insurgency, the Farc and its commanders may still have to be weaned militarily from its criminal ways.
The daring rescue was pulled off by a dedicated military unit which infiltrated the Farc gang. The soldiers were prepared to use force, but conceived and carried out a plan which needed none. They could teach a lot of armies a few things. That includes the Thai army, continually faced with a lack of military intelligence about the murderous southern insurgents. A little information and imaginative planning can reap huge rewards.
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