US-backed Colombian soldiers execute innocent for cash

The Colombian government of President Alvaro Uribe is facing questions about its handling of the war against the country’s FARC rebels following a UN report that accuses Colombian soldiers of systematically killing innocent people for a cash reward.

The United States is slated to hand over some $750 million in mostly military aid to Colombia this year. The potential contribution of US taxpayers’ money to fund the killing of innocent people — though likely inadvertent on the part of the Colombian government — will almost certainly raise eyebrows among human-rights activists and others who have long criticized the Colombian government’s actions in its war against cocaine and insurgents.