Our hostages held by terrorists seen

No, I'm not talking about our soldiers in Iraq.

Did you know that the Communist Terrorists in Colombia are holding three Americans hostage - and have been for years? Almost 4 years?

Relatives of kidnap victims call it "proof of life."

Almost four years have passed since Gene and Lynne Stansell received any confirmation that their son, Keith, a U.S. defense contractor who was taken hostage by left-wing guerrillas in Colombia, was still alive.

Then Wednesday out of the jungle emerged a bare-boned Jhon Frank Pinchao, a Colombian policeman who had spent almost nine years as a prisoner of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

At a press conference Pinchao said he escaped from the same FARC camp where Stansell, 42, and two other American defense contractors, Thomas Howes and Marc Gonsalves, are held.

All were alive and in good spirits, Pinchao said.

Yes, dear, there are still Communists soaked in blood and ignored by the Leftists and their fellow travelers.

Think of all the airtime to Abu Ghraib, and then read about what is happening for a former Presidential Candidate and her running mate. What is the percentage? Simple; Abu Ghraib gets you 3,320 in googlenews - Keith Stansell, Thomas Howes, and Marc Gonsalves will get you 49. 1.5% as important? THAT much less? At this stage of the game? 60 Minutes II did something on them a few years ago, and a indie documentary done - but that is it.

Time did an Abu Ghraib article as recent as 18 MAY.

Former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt is forced to sleep chained by her neck as punishment for having tried to escape from her rebel captors five times, an escaped hostage told family members of the dual French-Colombian citizen.
...
Betancourt was chained by the neck to other prisoners every night -- and sometimes for 24 hours at a time -- in order to prevent her from escaping, family members present at the meeting told The Associated Press on Friday.

"They're treating her like an animal," said her husband, Juan Carlos Lecompte, adding that he feared her captors would harshen their treatment of the hostages following Pinchao's escape. "The guerrillas lie when they say they're treating women and prisoners humanely."

Pinchao, he said, was kept with Betancourt for almost three years.

Betancourt was kidnapped in 2002 while campaigning for the presidency on a leftist ticket in southern Colombia, a longtime rebel stronghold.

In 2003, the FARC sent a proof-of-life video of Betancourt and her running mate Clara Rojas, who Pinchao said gave birth three years ago in captivity to a child named Emanuel. The father is a guerrilla, Pinchao said.

After suffering a bout of hepatitis a year ago, Pinchao said, Betancourt remains thin but is otherwise in good health and recently was his daily exercise partner.

Senator Leahy. Senator Reid. Hello? Anyone?

Will Hollywood make a movie of this man?

The policeman, Jhon Frank Pinchao, recently escaped from the rebels after more than eight years in captivity. He was abducted in 1998 when FARC rebels raided the southeastern town of Mitu, killing some officers and taking 60 people hostage.

Pinchao says the kidnappers have punished Betancourt for trying to escape. He says he last saw her and the American captives on April 28th.

The former hostage said Thursday in Bogota he fled a rebel camp and spent 17 days walking through the Amazon jungle before a police patrol found him.

Pinchao says the hostages were moved from one camp to another every few months.

The FARC has been holding about 60 political prisoners for several years in the hope of trading them for hundreds of rebels held by the government.

What a story...but it would make Communists in the jungle, I mean Rain Forest, look bad - so maybe not.