D
Dr. Jai Maharaj
Guest
The terrorist Bush isn't after
Luis Posada Carriles is a terrorist - but an
anti-Castro one, so as far as America is
concerned he's all right.
By Stephen Kinzer
The Guardian, UK
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
One October day in 1976, a Cuban airliner exploded over the
Caribbean and crashed, killing all 73 people aboard. There
should have been 74. I had a ticket on that flight, but
changed my reservation at the last moment and flew to
Havana on an earlier plane.
I was sitting by the pool of the Hotel Riviera when I heard
news of the crash. A few days later, I attended a
powerfully moving ceremony at which one million Cubans
turned out to hear Fidel Castro denounce the bomb attack.
On the reviewing stand next to him were flag-draped coffins
of the few victims whose remains had been found.
Investigators in Venezuela, where the doomed flight
originated, quickly determined that a famous anti-Castro
terrorist, Luis Posada Carriles, had probably planned this
attack. More than 30 years later, however, Posada remains
amazingly immune to prosecution. Instead of going to jail,
he went to work for the CIA.
Last week a federal judge in Texas threw out a case against
Posada. The Bush administration has power under the Patriot
Act to detain him indefinitely, and could even extradite
him to Venezuela. Instead it has chosen to protect him.
Few themes have recurred more often in President Bush's
speeches than the denunciation of countries that protect
terrorists. The Posada case, however, greatly weakens his
moral authority to accuse those countries.
Posada's career follows the arc of anti-Castro activism
over half a century. He was born in Cuba, fled to Florida
after Castro took power, and in 1961 participated in the
CIA's ill-fated Bay of Pigs invasion. After its failure he
went back to work for the CIA. He joined its clandestine
anti-Castro project, based in the Florida Keys.
Later Posada moved to Venezuela where, without cutting his
ties to the CIA, he became a senior officer in the security
police. After the 1976 plane bombing, he was arrested,
tried, found guilty, sentenced and imprisoned. He spent
several years in a comfortable jail cell and then, one day
in August of 1985, he disappeared.
That was the last I heard of him until the next year. I was
in Nicaragua covering the trial of a CIA contractor whose
plane was shot down while dropping supplies to anti-
Sandinista contra rebels. The contractor was shown
surveillance photos taken at Ilopango Airport in El
Salvador, where contra supply planes were based, and he
identified one of the men he worked with there as Ramon
Medina. He was actually Luis Posada Carriles.
It turned out that after his mysterious escape from jail,
Posada had left Venezuela using a false Salvadoran
passport, changed his name and reportedly even altered his
appearance through plastic surgery. He told a journalist
who found him in El Salvador that he was engaged in "a
fight against international Communism, against Castro in
all parts of the world". Apparently the CIA had welcomed
him back into its ranks.
Over the years since then, Posada has had several brushes
with the law. He was jailed in Panama on charges of
plotting to assassinate Castro at a summit of Latin
American leaders, but was freed by presidential pardon.
Wherever he lands, he shows a remarkable ability to escape
serious punishment.
Venezuela, with which the United States has an extradition
treaty, has been seeking his return for years. American
officials have steadfastly refused to extradite him.
In 2005 Posada surfaced in Miami. Prosecutors filed an
immigration fraud case against him, but according to the
verdict in last week's case, they used impermissible
tactics in interrogating him. He left the court a free man.
The United States is holding hundreds of suspected
terrorists in prisons at Guantanamo and elsewhere. Many are
locked up indefinitely. They have not been tried or even
charged with any crime. Posada, meanwhile, is "jumping for
joy" at the way the United States has treated him,
according to one of his lawyers.
After last week's verdict, a spokesman for the US
Department of Justice said Posada's case is under review. A
grand jury in New Jersey is investigating his role in the
bombing of Cuban hotels in the 1990s. So far, though, the
services he provided to the CIA for more than four decades
have protected him.
"If you harbour a terrorist, you are a terrorist,"
President Bush famously declared after the attacks of
September 11, 2001. The United States is now harbouring
Luis Posada Carriles. His continued freedom mocks victims
of terrorism everywhere. It also shows how heavily the "war
on terror" is overlaid with politics and hypocrisy.
More at:
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/stephen_kinzer/2007/05/the_terrorist_bush_isnt_after.html
Jai Maharaj
http://tinyurl.com/yhjyp5
http://www.mantra.com/jai
http://www.mantra.com/jyotish
Om Shanti
Hindu Holocaust Museum
http://www.mantra.com/holocaust
Hindu life, principles, spirituality and philosophy
http://www.hindu.org
http://www.hindunet.org
The truth about Islam and Muslims
http://www.flex.com/~jai/satyamevajayate
o Not for commercial use. Solely to be fairly used for the educational
purposes of research and open discussion. The contents of this post may not
have been authored by, and do not necessarily represent the opinion of the
poster. The contents are protected by copyright law and the exemption for
fair use of copyrighted works.
o If you send private e-mail to me, it will likely not be read,
considered or answered if it does not contain your full legal name, current
e-mail and postal addresses, and live-voice telephone number.
o Posted for information and discussion. Views expressed by others are
not necessarily those of the poster who may or may not have read the article.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This article may contain copyrighted material the use of
which may or may not have been specifically authorized by the copyright
owner. This material is being made available in efforts to advance the
understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic,
democratic, scientific, social, and cultural, etc., issues. It is believed
that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title
17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without
profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included
information for research, comment, discussion and educational purposes by
subscribing to USENET newsgroups or visiting web sites. For more information
go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this article for purposes of
your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the
copyright owner.
Luis Posada Carriles is a terrorist - but an
anti-Castro one, so as far as America is
concerned he's all right.
By Stephen Kinzer
The Guardian, UK
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
One October day in 1976, a Cuban airliner exploded over the
Caribbean and crashed, killing all 73 people aboard. There
should have been 74. I had a ticket on that flight, but
changed my reservation at the last moment and flew to
Havana on an earlier plane.
I was sitting by the pool of the Hotel Riviera when I heard
news of the crash. A few days later, I attended a
powerfully moving ceremony at which one million Cubans
turned out to hear Fidel Castro denounce the bomb attack.
On the reviewing stand next to him were flag-draped coffins
of the few victims whose remains had been found.
Investigators in Venezuela, where the doomed flight
originated, quickly determined that a famous anti-Castro
terrorist, Luis Posada Carriles, had probably planned this
attack. More than 30 years later, however, Posada remains
amazingly immune to prosecution. Instead of going to jail,
he went to work for the CIA.
Last week a federal judge in Texas threw out a case against
Posada. The Bush administration has power under the Patriot
Act to detain him indefinitely, and could even extradite
him to Venezuela. Instead it has chosen to protect him.
Few themes have recurred more often in President Bush's
speeches than the denunciation of countries that protect
terrorists. The Posada case, however, greatly weakens his
moral authority to accuse those countries.
Posada's career follows the arc of anti-Castro activism
over half a century. He was born in Cuba, fled to Florida
after Castro took power, and in 1961 participated in the
CIA's ill-fated Bay of Pigs invasion. After its failure he
went back to work for the CIA. He joined its clandestine
anti-Castro project, based in the Florida Keys.
Later Posada moved to Venezuela where, without cutting his
ties to the CIA, he became a senior officer in the security
police. After the 1976 plane bombing, he was arrested,
tried, found guilty, sentenced and imprisoned. He spent
several years in a comfortable jail cell and then, one day
in August of 1985, he disappeared.
That was the last I heard of him until the next year. I was
in Nicaragua covering the trial of a CIA contractor whose
plane was shot down while dropping supplies to anti-
Sandinista contra rebels. The contractor was shown
surveillance photos taken at Ilopango Airport in El
Salvador, where contra supply planes were based, and he
identified one of the men he worked with there as Ramon
Medina. He was actually Luis Posada Carriles.
It turned out that after his mysterious escape from jail,
Posada had left Venezuela using a false Salvadoran
passport, changed his name and reportedly even altered his
appearance through plastic surgery. He told a journalist
who found him in El Salvador that he was engaged in "a
fight against international Communism, against Castro in
all parts of the world". Apparently the CIA had welcomed
him back into its ranks.
Over the years since then, Posada has had several brushes
with the law. He was jailed in Panama on charges of
plotting to assassinate Castro at a summit of Latin
American leaders, but was freed by presidential pardon.
Wherever he lands, he shows a remarkable ability to escape
serious punishment.
Venezuela, with which the United States has an extradition
treaty, has been seeking his return for years. American
officials have steadfastly refused to extradite him.
In 2005 Posada surfaced in Miami. Prosecutors filed an
immigration fraud case against him, but according to the
verdict in last week's case, they used impermissible
tactics in interrogating him. He left the court a free man.
The United States is holding hundreds of suspected
terrorists in prisons at Guantanamo and elsewhere. Many are
locked up indefinitely. They have not been tried or even
charged with any crime. Posada, meanwhile, is "jumping for
joy" at the way the United States has treated him,
according to one of his lawyers.
After last week's verdict, a spokesman for the US
Department of Justice said Posada's case is under review. A
grand jury in New Jersey is investigating his role in the
bombing of Cuban hotels in the 1990s. So far, though, the
services he provided to the CIA for more than four decades
have protected him.
"If you harbour a terrorist, you are a terrorist,"
President Bush famously declared after the attacks of
September 11, 2001. The United States is now harbouring
Luis Posada Carriles. His continued freedom mocks victims
of terrorism everywhere. It also shows how heavily the "war
on terror" is overlaid with politics and hypocrisy.
More at:
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/stephen_kinzer/2007/05/the_terrorist_bush_isnt_after.html
Jai Maharaj
http://tinyurl.com/yhjyp5
http://www.mantra.com/jai
http://www.mantra.com/jyotish
Om Shanti
Hindu Holocaust Museum
http://www.mantra.com/holocaust
Hindu life, principles, spirituality and philosophy
http://www.hindu.org
http://www.hindunet.org
The truth about Islam and Muslims
http://www.flex.com/~jai/satyamevajayate
o Not for commercial use. Solely to be fairly used for the educational
purposes of research and open discussion. The contents of this post may not
have been authored by, and do not necessarily represent the opinion of the
poster. The contents are protected by copyright law and the exemption for
fair use of copyrighted works.
o If you send private e-mail to me, it will likely not be read,
considered or answered if it does not contain your full legal name, current
e-mail and postal addresses, and live-voice telephone number.
o Posted for information and discussion. Views expressed by others are
not necessarily those of the poster who may or may not have read the article.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This article may contain copyrighted material the use of
which may or may not have been specifically authorized by the copyright
owner. This material is being made available in efforts to advance the
understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic,
democratic, scientific, social, and cultural, etc., issues. It is believed
that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title
17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without
profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included
information for research, comment, discussion and educational purposes by
subscribing to USENET newsgroups or visiting web sites. For more information
go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this article for purposes of
your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the
copyright owner.