The Will To Win

By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY

Leadership: Gen. Ulysses Grant won our Civil War by doggedly pursuing the enemy even after winning battles. That's occurring in Colombia, where President Uribe is stepping up an already impressive war effort.

As we went to press, Colombia was set to sign a pact over the weekend with the U.S. for access to seven military bases on its territory. It's an unprecedented vote of confidence in U.S. troops and will substantially expand both countries' capacity to fight drugs and terror.

But more than that, it's a strong sign President Alvaro Uribe intends to crush FARC's Marxist narcoterrorists, the group that's been trying to overthrow Colombia's democracy since 1966.

Uribe isn't stopping at bases. He's also buttressing a battered Mexico, which is fighting the same network of narco-thugs. On Thursday, Uribe signed an agreement with Mexico's President Felipe Calderon for Colombian national police to train 10,000 Mexican federales in effective counternarcotics warfare.

This is a clever move, for it will aid Mexico in a way that the U.S. cannot. For historical reasons, American troops are not allowed even to train troops on Mexican soil. But U.S.-trained, battle-hardened Colombians can.

Uribe has also raised Colombia's profile in the Dominican Republic by naming retired general Mario Montoya, an expert in counternarcotic warfare with a record of victory, as Colombia's ambassador. His appointment comes as the U.S. adds eight agents to its drug enforcement contingent on the tiny island, through which considerable drug traffic passes. That covers the Caribbean flank.

The whole picture is one of following up on success.

U.S. access to Colombian bases won't mean a change of mission or more tanks and F-16s. It's still irregular warfare that Colombia is forced to fight — more intelligence than guns.

This is important because FARC's sponsor, Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, won't admit that he is fighting a proxy war with Colombia and, by extension, the U.S. But he's been funding FARC terrorists and allowing them to operate in Venezuela for years.

As blogger CaracasGringo put it, U.S. base access in Colombia will, to say the least, ruin the "business climate" for Chavez's narcoterrorist pals. No wonder the Venezuelan strongman is complaining loudly in international forums, saying militarism has taken over the continent.

Uribe's boldness is new; in the past he's been way too cautious. When a FARC computer was captured in 2008, only a few of its files that clearly showed Chavez's involvement in terror were released and nothing was done afterward. But now, new information is pouring out of Colombia as never before.

It's important to note that the U.S. sought access to only one base, and that was to replace a contract that was not renewed on a base in nearby Ecuador. Seven was Colombia's idea. Given the progress already made, this signals a determined effort to finish off the war.

In addition, news of the bases was leaked out solely from Colombian, not U.S., sources. This signals an aggressive bid to put enemies on notice.

Chavez protested furiously, of course, but Uribe — who isn't given to kibitzing abroad — countered this by visiting seven South American leaders in the past week to soothe regional nerves and win support.

Uribe even managed to successfully bring up to these other leaders Chavez's military alliances with Iran and Russia. In so doing, he — and not the U.S. — is ironically becoming the hemisphere's most ardent defender of the Monroe Doctrine.

Uribe has only eight months left in office. He's already sitting on a pile of impressive victories. But instead of resting on his laurels, he's gotten bolder. Like Grant, he wants total victory.