Thunder in the Whirlwind

When border tensions in South America reach a boiling point, the United States provides Columbia with military assistance to help in a struggle against rebels supported by neighboring Venezuela. The "police action" quickly escalates, and six captured Americans are publicly executed. The president, a disabled Vietnam veteran himself, commits troops to battle.

U.S. forces are withdrawn when the president loses his reelection campaign, but during the withdrawal a top American commander and his ...