Ade&Abet

Can you imagine what this must feel like?!?

This is from the NYT article about the hostages taken for 5+ years by FARC, the Colombian guerilla group:

Ms. Betancourt wept and smiled as she recounted a chain of events that seemed scripted for film, complete with Colombian agents infiltrating guerrilla camps and borrowing Israeli tracking technology to zero in on their target, before rescuing 15 hostages in all.

The helicopters landed in the jungle at dawn, carrying personnel whom she presumed were part of a mission to transport the hostages to another location, for continued detention, according to Colombian press reports.

The captives were handcuffed and “humiliated,” then put on the helicopters accompanied by two guerrillas who were guarding them, Ms. Betancourt explained.

While boarding, Ms. Betancourt looked at the helicopter crew members, who were wearing T-shirts emblazoned with images of Che Guevara. “I thought, this is FARC,” she said on television, referring to the rebel group that held her. But once the doors of the helicopter closed, Ms. Betancourt said, it was clear something unusual was happening.

Unbeknownst to the hostages, or the two guerrillas who also got on board, the crew members were Colombian commandos impersonating FARC operatives. When the doors closed, the guerillas were quickly overpowered by the crew and placed in handcuffs.

“Suddenly I saw the commander who, during four years, had been at the head of our team, who so many times was so cruel and humiliated me, and I saw him on the floor naked with bound eyes.”

At that point the hostages knew their long nightmare was over.

“The chief of operations said, ‘We are the national army and you are all free,’ and the helicopter almost fell because we started jumping, we screamed, we cried, we hugged. We couldn’t believe it.”

Oh, look at that...