Interpol, FARC Laptops and More

There is a detailed article on znet about the raid and the laptops captured in the raid. There is a lot more useful information but, specifically on the laptops, it seems that the press spin about what Interpol said and the actual report leaves a few problems.

But what happened between 1 March and 3 March? An officer of Colombia's anti-terrorist unit "directly accessed the eight seized Farc computer exhibits under exigent and time-sensitive circumstances" (page 30) and they were all connected to a computer "without prior imaging of their contents and without the use of write-blocking hardware" (page 31). As a result of this, during those three days, "access to data . . . did not conform to internationally recognised principles for handling electronic evidence by law enforcement" (page 8). This is not insignificant, as Interpol discovered that a total of 48,055 files "had either been created, accessed, modified or deleted as a result of the direct access to the eight seized exhibits by Colombian authorities between the time of their seizure on 1 March 2008 and 3 March 2008 at 11.45am" (page 33).

I learned in school than whenever you read or listen to something you have to understand where the author is coming from. For example if I read something written by Fidel Castro I can usually tell where he is coming from. Once you understand his bias then you can check out the facts to discover the truth.

Regarding the video and “The Real News Network” all you have to do is check out their web site to understand where they are coming from. Here are some of the topics, “US Media Spins Sadar City “Success”, “Holy Warriors in the US Armed Forces”, “Race and Poverty in the US”, etc. They have a decidedly anti-US bias. So do I believe what the 2 talking heads are saying in The Real News Network video? No. According to Interpol the recovered laptops contained 39.5 million pages of information. They said it would take 1 person 1,000 years reading 100 pages a day to read all of the information. The Real News Network says how can you draw conclusions from having access to the information for only 48 hours? You do it like I did in school. You don’t have to read every page in a book to understand what it is about. You skim, sample and spot read. So is it possible to glean important information by reading portions of this mountain of data? Yes of course. Do you have to read all 39.5 million pages to understand? No. They also go on the make other accusations about the laptops and Columbia’s position on the FARC terrorists that don’t “square up”.

The Real News Network should rename themselves to “The Real News Network According to Our Biased Views.” Do I believe Chavez is not involved in supporting the FARC terrorists? No. Do I believe Chavez is not a dictator and trying to subvert democracy in Latin America? No. The Real News Network says there is a “relentless, concerted campaign against Hugo Chavez.” Do I believe this statement? Yes I do. This is one thing they got right. The question is should there be? I think the answere is yes there should be. He is a dangerous man and heading his country down the wrong path. He will land in the heap of other dangerous South American dictators throughout history.

Regarding Nicaragua I believe Daniel Ortega should be careful with who he aligns himself with. Friends like Hugo Chavez and Ah-mah-nut-job (as Jay Leno calls him) from Iran will only bring Nicaragua trouble. During Ortega’s last time as president his government provided passports to some of the terrorists involved in the World Trade Center bombing during the 90’s. It seems like Ortega doesn’t learn from his mistakes. If he allows Iran to build a port at Monkey Point in Nicaragua he is opening the door for terrorists once again to strike from Nicaragua. I hope Ortega and the Nicaraguan people will be prepared for the consequences.