McCain gets a little help from a new friend

MEXICO CITY -- John McCain laughed when asked if his trip to Colombia had anything to do with the successful mission to rescue hostages -- including Ingrid Betancourt and three American hostages -- held by rebels in that country.

"There's no way possible that it could have anything to do with our visit, that I could imagine," McCain said aboard his plane en route here from Cartagena, Colombia, minutes after he was informed of the undertaking's success in a phone conversation with the nation's president, Alvaro Uribe.

Even if the timing was little more than an advantageous coincidence for McCain, who traveled to Colombia largely to identify with Uribe's efforts fighting narcoterrorism and to advocate for rewarding his administration with a new free-trade agreement, his new friendship with the right-leaning populist paid off.

Between a formal meeting with Cabinet members and dinner at Uribe's presidential retreat on Tuesday evening, McCain and his companions, Senators Lindsey Graham and Joe Lieberman, were briefed on the classified details of the rescue operation already underway -- a courtesy not routinely extended to foreign presidential candidates.

"I think it was a sign of confidence of President Uribe and the defense minister in Senator McCain, and maybe in the two of us, that they were prepared to share this information last night which was highly classified," Lieberman said.