Colombian military’s new weapon against rebels: Christmas trees
This holiday season, the Colombian military is trying a unique angle to get guerrillas to lay down their arms: It is creating Christmas trees deep in the jungle in hopes the holiday spirit will tug the rebels back home.
The first tree of “Operation Christmas” was decorated in the jungle of southern Colombia, the military said.
Two units in two Blackhawk helicopters dropped in on a supply path that the guerrillas are known to use and picked a 25-meter (82-foot) tree to decorate with sparkling blue lights.
A commercial made by the military shows the soldiers, dressed in camouflage uniforms and face paint, wrapping 2,000 lights around the branches and trunk.
The tree was rigged with a motion sensor that will turn the lights on when someone walks by. A banner next to it says,
“If Christmas can come to the jungle, you too can come home. Demobilize. At Christmas, everything is possible.”
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