A Plan B for Colombia

Human rights activists in Colombia have long accused their government of a horrific war strategy: In order to prove it is making progress against leftist rebels and criminal gangs, the military inflates its body count by killing innocent civilians, mostly impoverished young men, and attributing their deaths to combat. Now we know it's true. President Alvaro Uribe has fired 27 soldiers and officers, including three generals, and the commander of Colombia's army, Gen. Mario Montoya, recently stepped down.

November 22, 2008