US Bending Rules on Colombia Terror?

WASHINGTON - For more than a decade, leftist guerrilla and right-wing paramilitary groups in Colombia have kidnapped or killed civilians, trade union leaders, police and soldiers by the hundreds and profited by shipping cocaine and heroin to the United States.

In that time, several American multinational corporations have been accused of essentially underwriting those criminal activities - in violation of U.S. law - by providing cash, vehicles and other financial assistance as insurance against attacks on their employees and facilities in the South American nation.