I would choose option 2 in a heartbeat! As to the crew members posing as Italian and "International" humanitarian workers, clearly it would be far more likely that troops from a more internationalized army - say, special operations from the U.S., as they have what, more than 30 personnel in Colombia anyhows? - posed as those workers. I think Robert D. Kaplan (controversial as he may be) had mentioned in his books and articles from Atlantic Monthly that U.S. trainers have been participating in training operations since the advent of Plan Colombia. It can't be much of a stretch to imagine them on that very same plane, as has been reported here at Narconews. I can also see why the administration would want Colombia to assume all credit for the operation - it just looks excellent for Colombia internationally, and is somewhat of an embarassment for Presidents Chavez and Correa, and is a boost to Colombia's image within Latin America and Europe, and no doubt a boost of good news for the Colombia free trade agreement in the U.S. Congress. Colombia's military in human rights reports looks worse this year vs. last year, which is not sterling, and has often been infiltrated, if I am not mistaken, by the drug lords. I had been referring to the link to the New York Times, which was a link to the AP story in the New York Times, not that what was reported in the AP on the New York Times included information from Narconews. Clearly, Narconews' information is distinct and unreported by other news outlets. I actually got in contact with Mark Bowden, who wrote the book Killing Pablo, to see if he was going to do a little digging on the rescue mission of Ingrid Betancourt and the U.S. hostages from Northrup Grummon, because there is just a lot more than meets the eye. I am glad Narconews is pursuing this story. I also really enjoyed the reporting on the other story regarding the DEA leaks out of the U.S. embassy and the "Bogota Connection." That was fascinating! Thank you for the high standards and for doing a thorough checking of the information. On an unrelated note, I didnt know if Narconews had done any work on the interesting positions of former drug czar General Barry McCaffrey. However controversial and who knows what else he may be, he seems to be advocating some real programs that would actually help drug addicts in the U.S. - now, I know McCaffrey is less than trustworthy on a lot of subjects relating to the drug wars, but that position was interesting for a former gung ho drug war advocate.