War What's It Good For?

Whilst I'm on the subject of western leftists who have man crushes on Latin American demagogues, there is this article about US involvement in Latin America particularly Colombia and Ecuador, by someone called Hugh O'Shaugnessy. He asks:

The incident, in which at least 21 members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) were killed, has had international repercussions. What use are armies in a region like Latin America?

The answer is in the question, killing marxist terrorists is a pretty good use of an army.