Can you say, "Jessica Lynch?"

There are a hundred reasons why the Bush administration would like you to look favorably on Columbian President Alvario Uribe. He is, after all, Bush's own alternative to Hugo Chavez (remember Hugo is the one who coined the best nom de la terreur for Bush - Mr. Danger!).

So reports on Swiss public radio that the rescue of Colombian hostages may have been precipitated by a $20 million ransom seem credible. That would mean that the videotaped rescue, which has been called "brilliant" but has always seemed a bit unlikely, may be a charade, like the Jessica Lynch rescue in Iraq.

If true, that would make American journalists, particularly American TV journalists, who broadcast news of the rescue repeatedly for days, seem like dupes, once again.

BTW, while everyone must be relieved and happy that the hostages were freed, and condemn the use of hostage-taking by FARC, we must remember that the three Americans, including Connecticut-born Marc Gonsalves, could be considered mercenaries - conducting a US funded military surveillance program for Grumman subsidiary California Microwave Systems. It's one of the many such contractor programs the US government runs that most of us don't know about.