AFTER WAR, MORE WAR (cont.):

U.S. offering reward for FARC hostages (Houston Chronicle, March 19, 2003)

The United States is offering Colombians $300,000, a U.S. visa and a new life in America for information leading to the rescue of three U.S. military contractors captured by rebels last month.

Authorities Tuesday began distributing color fliers outlining the offer, complete with pictures of a jetliner, a visa application and a clean, modern metropolis lying along azure waters -- presumably an American city.

The Americans were captured by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia -- known as the FARC -- Feb. 13 after their U.S. government plane went down in rebel territory during an intelligence mission. A fourth American and a Colombian on the plane were killed near the scene.

The U.S. State Department years ago classified the FARC as a terrorist group, but the U.S. Embassy denied that the offer of the money -- equal to more than a lifetime's pay for many Colombians -- and the hard-to-get U.S. visa is tantamount to negotiating with terrorists.

We've got a little list and they'll none of them be missed. Posted by Orrin Judd at March 20, 2003 7:51 AM