A new form of March Madness

This evening's wire notes that Our favorite South American tinhorn, Senor Chavez, has mobilized 'ten battalions' with tanks of Venezuala's troops to the border with Colombia following Colombia's incursion into Ecuador, a country in the opposite direction from Venezuala. Colombia killed a FARC rebel leader and some henchmen 1.8 miles inside Ecuador, the FARC being a group fighting Colombia's government for many years. Later in the evening, Ecuador, not to be outdone, mobilized its own fighting forces. All three began withdrawing ambassadorial staff from each other's capitals. The US has been pouring money into Colombia to fight drugs for years. Sr. Chavez has been thumbing his nose at the US for years. The FARC have been disrupting things for years. Ecuador is alleged to have been collaborating with FARC. This sort of disruption is not new in South America but its capacity to become a thorn in our side grows greater as Venezuala, plump with oil money, throws its weight around. Would a military misstep in the area require US involvement? Very possibly if our 'ally' Colombia is actually attacked. Sadly, none of the players here seem to be fine upstanding folk. All are a little tarnished with back alley dealings, huge vested interests, and more than a barrel of oil or ounce of coca's worth of machismo and bragging rights on the line. The truth is that American foreign policy isn't focused in this direction considering the volatile potentials. We could easily find ourselves tangled up in a new military excursion which could be costly in terms of the greater world view we need to preserve.