BRING OUR HOSTAGES HOME

It was hot last week, and I'm not just talking about the Indian summer in
DeKalb. In California, a movie star was elected in a recall that was on
fire. Rush Limbaugh's prescription drug habit was dragged into the
scorching spotlight, and his words ended up being too hot for television.

But I know a place where it was even hotter. In fact, I bet it was darn
near sweltering. It's the jungles of a country called Columbia, where the
United States has been indirectly fighting a drug war for as long as I can
remember, losing good people left and right. And you'll probably never hear
anything about them.

This is a secret war, called "Plan Columbia," conducted by the CIA,
contractors and proxy armies the United States has built not because we
necessarily care about Columbian politics, but because our government has a
hard-line policy about cocaine. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia,
or FARC, is growing coca plants to fund their civil war, which has been
raging for 40 years. And that's who we're fighting, or rather, those are
whose plants we're killing.

That's exactly what Keith Stansell, Thomas Howes and Marc Gonsalves were
preparing to do as they flew over a guerrilla-controlled area this past
February with their Columbian guide and their pilot, Tom Janis. They were
looking for coca plants when their engine failed and they crash-landed in
the heart of enemy territory. The pilot and guide were executed. Stansell,
Howes and Gonsalves, however, have been held by FARC since then.

We know they're alive only because of one Columbian journalist by the name
of Jorge Botero. He was brave enough to reach out to FARC and conduct an
extensive interview with the hostages, parts of which aired Wednesday night
on CBS's "60 Minutes II."

"To our country, we miss you, and we hope we return one day. We're alive
and well," said Stansell, a systems analyst from Georgia.

"We expect to get out of here one day. We can't say for sure," said Thomas
Howes, a professional pilot from Florida. "But our main concern is the
welfare of our families."

"I'm a proud American," said Marc Gonsalves, a systems analyst from
Connecticut. "I look to you guys, and I ask for a diplomatic solution to
get us home safe, please."

But that diplomatic solution seems to be pie in the sky. A State Department
official said negotiations between the United States and FARC have broken
down. The official says it's because FARC is a ruthless terrorist
organization who knows how valuable these hostages are. The hostages
themselves say, however, they're not being released because the United
States and the Columbian government refuse to trade them for FARC prisoners.

Life as a captive in the jungles of Columbia must be the only kind of hell
even close to what Vietnam prisoners of war went through. They say they are
constantly on the move and usually kept in isolation. They maintain on the
video, however, that they aren't being tortured, and there appear to be no
visible signs of beatings.

These men were not prepared to be taken prisoner or fight in any kind of
war. These men are civilians, private citizens working for companies hired
by the State Department to do their dirty work in Columbia.

All three were working for a small firm called California Microwave, which
was contracted to do the work by a much larger company called Northrup
Grumman. After the news of the crash reached Northrup, the company
immediately handed over the contract to another firm, though they continue
to pay the hostages' salaries to their families.

Stansell, Gonsalves, and Howes say they do not want a rescue. The
guerrillas tell them that if the U.S. or Columbian governments attempt one,
they most assuredly will be killed. They plead over and over again for a
diplomatic solution, specifically a trade.

We need to bring these men home now, no matter what it takes. We also need
to stop sending civilians to do the military's job. More importantly, I
believe we need to reevaluate "Plan Columbia." We're told cocaine
production is down, but it certainly doesn't seem that way. Meanwhile,
three Americans swelter with guns pointed at their heads each and every day
because of a forgotten war.

Columns reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily that of the
Northern Star staff.