Bill, the story was written by the AP. Apart from that, the facts are very interesting. The U.S. did provide support in getting rid of Pablo Escobar. It's conceivable - and the money outlined in the AP story point to this - that a heck of a lot of U.S. collaboration went into the rescue. The training for the mission was certainly meticulous. But, the MI 17 helicopters are flown by Colombians - their government owns many of those. Not saying that a U.S. pilot cant fly one, but the Colombians have way more practice, so the pilots would probably be Colombian. That said, I don't think it's a best practice to have the rebels totally surrounded by the Colombian military. The rebels would have been smart enough, if the mission failed, to retreat with the hostages, or they would have killed them. That would have been quite another headline. I also cant believe the Swiss report about the $20 million payout to FARC to release Betancourt and Co. That amount, for one, is way too small for THE prize hostage (though perhaps to the rebel group that was marginalized from central command, it would have seemed like quite a lot). So, I can't believe the Swiss report. But the AP report makes sense. That the government spent $250 million trying to find the hostages, and who knows how many millions more on this particular mission, makes sense. More than the hostages lives are at stake. It looks good for the U.S. abroad (so $250 million or more is a drop in the bucket) that Americans are rescued alongside others by another country. A U.S. ally is also given an image boost. A lot of factors, and far more than meets the eye! I can believe that the Colombian military was very competent and capable of such a mission.