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Originally Posted by Leozinho
I didn't think to delete the names given that Reuters, AP, NY Times, CNN, Fox, etc have already published them. The AP has a quote from one of the soldiers' father.
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Yeah, I noticed that too. Fox News had published their names the very day that the news broke. Hours later, their ranks were on their website, along with their names. What amazed me was that the Colombian news media published the names of all of the accused and, for the Colombian nationals, even revealed their identification numbers (similar to our Social Security Numbers) along with each name! They won't preserve OPSEC once the arrest becomes a matter of public record (at which point, any citizen can see the details released). But, we do our best here to preserve as much OPSEC as possible; at least for the principle involved.
Tonight I watched the re-broadcast of Colombian news hour, from one of the two news organizations I mentioned earlier, and they showed film footage of the two US soldiers being questioned by the authorities in a conference room. In case you haven't been down south yet, the Colombians like to parade captured / accused persons on TV. One of the two soldiers still had on a black t-shirt with his parent unit's emblem emblazoned on it which, of course, the camera focused on (!).
For tonight's broadcast, this was the top story of the day. Also, the Colombian authorities seized the USEMB-issued cell phones from the accused US soldiers and tracked down phone calls that, allegedly, led to an additional 10,000 rounds. On the news footage they showed rooms full of ammo cans, both 9 mm and 5.56 mm, single and belt-fed (5.56 mm) filmed inside the actual home where they were seized. Then, they showed the footage of each US soldier being questioned and identifying them by name ("This is 'so and so' and this is 'so and so'). They also showed the USEMB-issued phones that were confiscated.
The thing is, however, that we don't know most of the facts. I once saw the Colombian Army resolve a fratricide incident inside of three hours of it occurring without collecting any evidence whatsoever. But, in any case, there is no happy ending for this; everyone involved looses.