Attorneys : Release Posada-Carriles

An update on the "So-Called War on Terror"^TM

Luis Posada-Carriles, his attorneys, and his supporters went before a magistrate Monday. The defense requested their client be released to his family in Miami until his deportation day comes. So far, neither side has been able to find a country that will take in Posada-Carriles. Guatemala, El Salvador, Mexico, Canada and Costa Rica have denied his entry.

Cuba and Venezuela have tried to extradite him for mass murder, but a US Federal judge has blocked his extradition.

"Up until now no country wants him. I think this is political. There's a lot of political pressure. No one wants him because of the baggage," said Janet Arguello, Posada-Carriles daughter.

Baggage. Yes. It is all political baggage.

Her father has been making international headlines since May 2005. The anti-Castro Cuban militant was caught in Miami entering the United States illegally. Meanwhile, he sits in jail awaiting deportation.

Well, he may be making international headlines outside of the United States, and he may be making headlines in Miami, but I can't find an American who doesn't read this blog (there are a few) who has even heard of Luis Posada Carriles.

Cuba and Venezuela blame the former CIA operative for the 1976 deadly bombing of a Cuban jet. Posada-Carriles denies being involved.

It's not just Cuba and Venezuela. How easy it is to make Posada sound merely like some misunderstood child when we say "Cuba and Venezuela blame him." The CIA declassified and released documents that show he helped to plan the bombing.

"All of those incidents, if in fact they occurred, are irrelevant. The only incident with relevancy today is, is there a third country willing, ready and able to take Luis, and there is none," said Eduardo Soto, Posada-Carriles attorney.

Irrelevant? 76 murders irrelevant? Gun-running to terrorists irelevant? Drug running to fund terror irrelevant? Cuba and Venezuela, Eddie. Cuba and Venzuela.

Countries where Posada-Carriles might run the risk of being tortured are off limits.

Fine. Send him to Egypt or Jordan or Morocco or Bagram or Gitmo where we send plenty of other people we call terrorists without having half the evidence of their crimes that we do on Posada. Why are we supporting terror? Why???

His daughter remains hopeful that he'll be able to come home even if it's temporary. She said the stress of his situation has taken a toll on her father's health.

"He looked so old. He was so thin. He was missing teeth. He has heart problems. I wish he could spend his last years of his life with us," said Arguello.

There are 76 families who wish their loved ones could have spent the last 30 years with them.

However, she said her father remains the same person at heart. "He's an extraordinary and generous person. One who would give his shoes up to another inmate who doesn't have a pair. He's a person with a big heart," said Arguello.

Oh, please, stop.

The magistrate heard testimonies from a deportation officer and a friend of Posada-Carriles. The U.S. District Attorney's Office would only say that the request was being reviewed. A ruling could come as early as this week.

Stay tuned. You won't see it on NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN or FOX.

Declassified CIA Documents : Posada Linked to 1976 Airline Bombing

New documents link Cuban militant Posada Carriles to airliner bombing: South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Okay, folks. This is where the rubber meets the road. Is the Bush administration's committment to fight terrorism mere public posturing, or is it genuine?

Cuban militant exile Luis Posada Carriles said shortly before the deadly 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner that he and others "are going to hit a Cuban airplane,'' according to a declassified CIA document released Thursday.

Posada was arrested May 17 in Miami and was charged two days later with illegally entering the country. Venezuela has demanded his extradition to stand trial for the October 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner, but the Bush administration has so far refused to extradite Posada. Posada, in all likelihood, has friends in high Washington places:

Posada was trained in Guatemala in 1961 by the CIA to participate in the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba. That training included explosives and weapons. He was in the U.S. Army from March 1963 to March 1964 in Fort Benning, Ga., rising to the rank of second lieutenant and commanding a Ranger weapons platoon...(He) was used as a CIA source on Cuban exile activities and worked in 1965 with a Miami-based group attempting to overthrow the Guatemalan government.

The Bush administration has been silent about Posada, and the mainstream media--not surprisingly--have not been pushing the issue. But there is no end to administration rhetoric about fighting terrorism. Wouldn't Posada's extradition to stand trial for a mass murder be evidence that the "war on terror" is not merely a "war-on-people-we-define-as-terrorists?"

Peter Kornbluh, director of the (National Security Archive's) Cuba Documentation Project, said the documents demonstrate the need for the CIA to declassify what it knows about Posada "as a concrete contribution to justice for those who have committed acts of terror.''

Is the Bush administration "war on terror" for real? If so, we'll extradite this terrorist.

US Wants to Bar Posada Testifying About CIA Resume in His Upcoming Trial

An Update on "America's Terrorist"^TM

The US Government doesn't want the upcoming trial of terrorist Luis Posada Carriles to draw a lot of attention to the fact that he worked for many years for the CIA.

In a nine-page motion filed with a federal tribunal in El Paso, Texas, state prosecutors claimed Posada Carriles's relationship with the Central Intelligence Agency ended more than 30 years ago and that as testimony or questioning about those ties were not relevant to his trial on immigration charges.

Not relevant? Not relevant? Recently declassified CIA documents (viewable here and here) show that the man planned the mid-air bombing of an airliner, killing 76 people, many of them students. How in the world is this not relevant to his trial on immigration charges? And why is he charged only with illegal entry into the United States?

And his tenure as either a CIA operative or associate did not necessarily end in 1976. Even though he was employed as a CIA agent in 1965, he was trained in 1961 (at the School of the Americas) in sabotage and explosives and took part in the CIA-planned and sponsored Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba. While still a CIA agent, Posada bacame the Chief of Operations of the Venezuelan Intelligences Services. The CIA believed at this time that Posada was trafficking in cocaine, but he remained on the payroll until 1976.

Imprisoned in Venezuela in 1977 for the 1976 bombing of Cubana Flight 455, Posada escaped to Chile, where he was again jailed. With help from the Reagan administration-funded -- and ultra right-wing -- Cuban American National Foundation, Posada again escaped and settled in El Salvador. Here he worked on regional programs during the 1980s sponsored by the Reagan administration, including selling arms to Iran in exchange for US hostages, the money going to fund (illegally) the Contra war in Nicaragua.

In 1997, Posada was implicated in a number of bombings of tourist hotels in Havana, and indicated that even though he no longer worked directly for the CIA, benefitted from a "tolerant attitude" on the part of US law enforcement.

Why are we fighting a so-called "war on terror" but refusing to extradite a man who we know to be a terrorist? Why are we rushing to deport immigrants who do essential work in the United States, but refusing to extradite that same man who we know to be a terrorist?

On September 23, 2003, President George W. Bush addressed the UN General Assembly and spoke about the so-called "war on terror." Among other things, he said:

“All governments that support terror are complicit in a war against civilization.” – President Bush's UN speech, 9/23/03

In training people sabotage and explosice techniques, we are supporting terror. In supporting right-wing death squads, or supporting governments that support right-wing death squads, we are supporting terror. In selling arms to Iran in order to illegally fund a revolutionary army, we are supporting terror. In allowing Luis Posada Carriles to walk the streets free, we are supporting terror. In trying him for illegal entry into the United States, we are supporting terror. In refusing to extradite him to Venezuela to stand trial for variouos crimes he committed there, we are supporting terror.

The Bush administration's so-called "war on terror" is a sham.

IMPEACH!!!

Chavez : Negroponte a "Professional Killer"

An update on the "New Axis of Evil"^TM

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - President Hugo Chavez on Sunday said he believes enemies including the CIA are out to kill him, and called U.S. diplomat John Negroponte a "professional killer.''

The CIA does have a history of coups and assassinations in Latin America (1954 Guatemala coup against Jacobo Arbenz, 1961 coup against J. M. Velasco Ibarra of Ecuador, a 1963 coup against Juan Bosch in the Dominican Republic, the 1973 coup against -- and assassination of -- Salvador Allende in Chile, the 1983 CIA establishment of the "Contra army" in Nicaragua, as well as the entire history of death squads emerging from the School of the Americas). John Negroponte as a "professional killer" is certainly hyperbole, and it is doubtful that the Assistant Secretary of State ever killed anyone himself. However, as US Ambassador to Honduras (1981-85), Negroponte oversaw the establishment of death squads in Honduras and El Salvador as well as the US-supported "Contra war' against Nicaragua's Sandinista government.

Chavez said Venezuelan officials have intelligence that associates of jailed Cuban anti-communist militant Luis Posada Carriles also are involved in plotting to assassinate him.

He said the death plot idea has "gained weight'' due to various factors, including the recent appointment of Negroponte, the former director of national intelligence, as deputy to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Here and here is the entire FOIA file on Luis Posada Carriles from the National Security Archives at George Washington University. Here is the file on John Negroponte. Read them and decide for yourself if Chavez is being paranoid.

"Who did they swear in...there at the White House as deputy secretary of state? A professional killer: John Negroponte,'' Chavez said.

Chavez did not elaborate, but his government has previously accused Negroponte of playing a key role in the Contra war against the leftist Sandinista government of Nicaragua when he served as ambassador to Honduras - a haven for clandestine Contra bases - from 1981 to 1985.

U.S. Embassy officials could not immediately be reached for comment, but they have denied Chavez's repeated accusations that they are plotting to oust him.

Of course they have. What else would they say? Logic -- and ethics -- demands we acknowledge the fact that none of this proves anything. Chavez may be lying, he may be crazy, he may be manipulating the media. Or he may be telling the truth. My point is that our history in Latin America suggests that he is not, at the very least, crazy.

Chavez was asked about reports of assassination plots during a televised interview.
"'They have assigned special units of the CIA, true assassins, who go around not only here in Venezuela, in Central America, in South America,'' Chavez said, without elaborating.

He added that while Posada Carriles, a former CIA operative, remains jailed in the U.S. on immigration charges, "Posada Carriles' people are very active in Central America and searching for contacts in Venezuela ... They are going around searching for explosives in large quantities, thinking about a sort of car bombing or searching for ground-to-air missiles, thinking about the presidential plane.''

Chavez did not give details. His government has demanded that the U.S. extradite Posada Carriles, a naturalized Venezuelan, to stand trial for allegedly masterminding the 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner that killed 73 people. Posada Carriles denies involvement in that incident.

Posada's involvement is documented in recently declassified CIA papers. Posada's FOIA files can be seen here and here, and the actual declassified CIA memo that refers to his involvement in the bombing can be seen here.

The CIA documents also show that Posada worked with another terrorist, former CIA operative Orlando Bosch. Bosch was pardoned by the first President Bush in 1990.

This, my friends, is our "war between good and evil."

Posada Carriles Could be Deported, not Extradited, to Venezuela

Posada Carriles Could be Deported, not Extradited, to Venezuela

This is a bit surprising and, perhaps, hopeful. But I'm not betting any money yet that justice will be done.

A Texas court said that if the asylum request of Luis Posada Carriles, the Cuban-Venezuelan, is rejected, he could be deported to Venezuela, where he is wanted in connection with the bombing of a 1976 airplane that killed 73 persons. The U.S. government’s Department of Homeland Security did not object to the judge’s decision.

The die is not yet cast, and it would not be surprising for the Bush administration to intervene--behind the scenes, to be sure. The elder Bush made his mark in American politics as an anti-Castro conservative, and as head of the CIA during the time Posada was an agency operative who helped to plan and carry out the Cubana airline bombing. Posada also worked closely with Bush friend and CIA "asset" Felix Rodriguez during the Iran/Contra scandal.

Recently declassified CIA documents show that Posada was, indeed, a central planner of the 1976 terrorist attack despite his denials.

The Secretary General of the Organization of American States, Jose Miguel Insulza, recently joined the international call for Posada's extradition--NOT deportation--to Venezuela. Not to do so, he implied, would make the US's stated objective of fighting terror a joke. As it stands right now, we can extradite a terrorist, or we can deport an illegal immigrant--or we can do nothing.

It's time for the President to give him up. Does he have the courage?

Venezuela : UN Must Not Allow Terrorist Posada to Go Free

An Update on the "So-Called War on Terror"^TM

From the Associated Press, via the International Herald Tribune:

UNITED NATIONS Venezuela said Thursday that it has asked the U.N. Security Council for help in its demands that the United States hand over a Cuban militant accused of planning the 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner.

Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro said that his government is asking the Security Council to take action against Luis Posada Carriles, a militant foe of Cuban leader Fidel Castro who is wanted in Venezuela for allegedly plotting in Caracas the attack on the passenger flight that killed 73 people.

"Accused" of planning the 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner. "Allegedly" plotting the attack that killed 73 people. All technically correct. The article might have mentioned that recently classified CIA documents provide evidence that Posada was, indeed, central to the planning of an attack that would certainly, if perpetrated upon Americans, be classified as "terrorism." He cooperated with other Cugan and Venzuelan right-wing terrorists, including Orlando Bosch, who was pardoned by the first President Bush.

Maduro reiterated Venezuela's demands that Posada Carriles, who is a Cuban-born naturalized Venezuelan citizen, be extradited to face charges of homicide and treason in the South American country.

"We hope that ... 30 years after the blowing up of the Cubana de Aviacion flight that there is justice (and that) Posada Carriles is extradited," Maduro said.

This is the first story I've seen in months on Posada in the western "liberal media." It has gotten enormous coverage in Latin American media, particulary the Cuban and Venezuelan press.

Why?

If we are a nation who has taken a bold moral stand against terrorism, why aren't we doing everything in our power to bring terrorists to justice? Or is terrorism "okay" when agents of the United States do it?

Do you wonder why we have no credibility in much of the world?

Evidence That "War on Terror" is a Sham : Posada May Be Given Amnesty

"Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. The great and powerful W has spoken."

Luis Posada Carriles (honest to God, click on his name, go back and read those links) may soon be a free. CIA records document the fact that he is a terrorist. But, since he worked for the US as a CIA operative, blowing up an airliner and killing 76 people is not terrorism -- or is it "good terrorism?" George H. W. Bush (head of the CIA when Posada was doing his "work" there) pardoned another terrorist, Orlando Bosch, who worked closely with Posada.

This is a disgrace, and every American should be both ashamed and clamoring for the impeachment of George W. Bush:

The Cuban-born Venezuelan citizen Luis Posada Carriles will be released from a United States Immigration jail and given amnesty, a U.S. federal judge announced Sept. 12. Both Cuba and Venezuela have demanded his extradition in order to try him for a 1976 airplane bombing that killed 73 people. Carriles has been in U.S. custody since he immigrated one year ago after serving a prison sentence in Panama for his role in a plot to assassinate Cuban President Fidel Castro.

May God have mercy on us all if we allow this to happen without AT LEAST raising our voices in protest.

War against terror, Howie? War to save civilization, Howie?

Bullshit.

What Next for Posada Carriles?

What Will U.S. Do With the Terrorist Carriles?

Posada is the former CIA operative and alleged mastermind of a 1976 airliner bombing. The Bush administration has so far refused to extradite him to Venezuela where he faces charges for that crime. He has been charged instead with illegally entering the US.

The mainstream media have been silent about Posada. In fact, there's been damned little if anything about him in the national press since he was arrested in Miami on May 17th. But FBI and CIA sources indicate that Posada is not only an alleged terrorist, but a terrorist in fact. And the reason we are not extraditing him to Venezuela has nothing to do with justice, but with the fact that he was a "good terrorist," that is to say "one of ours."

And there is some evidence--not unimpeachable, to be sure, but evidence nonetheless--that the US is selling arms to Comumbian terrorists.

Is the US "war on terror" for real? Or is it a war on people who do not accept the agenda of the Project for a New American Century? Only George W. Bush and his administration can answer this question, and the answer will be made clear by their actions, not their rhetoric. The words have been very clear:

“All governments that support terror are complicit in a war against civilization.” – President Bush's UN speech, 9/23/03

The actions have been a little muddier.

Le Figaro (France) : Bush Refuses to Extradite 'Friendly' Criminal to Venezuela

Bush Refuses to Extradite 'Friendly' Criminal to Venezuela

“All governments that support terror are complicit in a war against civilization.” – President Bush's UN speech, 9/23/03

In the cosmic war between good and evil, the Bush administration seems to be saying, there are "good terrorists" and there are "bad terrorists." How this can ever be is beyond me, but there you go. Luis Posada Carriles appears to be one of the "good terrorists."

That is why the US is refusing to extradite him to Venezuela (see "The New Axis of Evil"^TM). You know, that Venezuela with a democratically elected president, Hugo Chavez, who the CIA helped to overthrow three years ago, but was swept back into power by popular acclamation and mass protests? That Venezuela, whose social and economic policies resemble those of the US during the New Deal? That dangerous and evil place, at least in the Bizarro world of Bush "democracy on the march."

Two weeks ago they finally took him into custody for entering the U.S. illegally. Now Washington’s dilemma persists. Returning Posada Carriles to the Venezuelan authorities would incite the anger of the politically potent Cuban exile community in Miami, whose radical wing has made Carriles a hero. President George W. Bush and his brother Jeb, the governor of Florida, cannot allow this.

But to refuse to extradite Carriles could be interpreted as a manifestation of American hypocrisy, i.e.: that the war against terrorism, launched shortly after the attacks of September 11, 2001 against World Trade towers in New York, does not apply to criminals friendly to Washington – since Posada Carriles was a long time employee of the CIA.

Hmmm. Good terrorism and bad terrorism... Isn't this a symptom of some of that "relativism" that Pope Benedict XVI has railed against? Maybe the Pontiff will come out and advise Mr. Bush to extradite Posada to Venezuela.

And maybe not.

Day 2 Without Bush Administration Movement on Posada

Unwanted ally makes dilemma for Bush

Fidel Castro has reportedly led a protest march of one million people (!) past the US Diplomatic Mission in Havana, Cuba, demanding the extradition of Luis Posada Carilles. Posada was involved (CIA and FBI records show) with the 1976 mid-air bombing of a Cuban airliner, killing 73 people.

The US has 48 hours (from the time of his arrest) to either charge Posada with illegally entering the country, extradite him to Venezuela, or grant him asylum. My guess is they'll charge him with illegally entering the US and give him soft time in a minimum security Federal prison.

C'mon, Mr. President. Prove me wrong.

Send this post to someone who cares. Get the ball rolling.

Venezuela : Extradite Terrorist Posada to the OAS

An update on the "New Axis of Evil"^TM

Well, as you are probably aware, a Federal Court released terror mastermind Luis Posada Carilles on bail this month pending his trial on illegally entering the country. I'm sure you've been following the story closely in the mainstream media, right? Astounding.

President Bush in a speech to the United Nations some months after the US invasion of Iraq (9/23/03), reminded nations of their responsibilities in bringing terrorists to justice. To shirk those responsibilities in a post-9/11 world, he said, was tantamount to aiding and abetting terrorism.

All governments that support terror are complicit in a war against civilization.

Well, Venezuela says they are serious about those obligations, and since the US won't extradite Posada to either Venezuela or Cuba (ironically because the Bush adminitrsation says the 79 year old may be tortured), then extradite him to the Organization of Amercan States, all of whom have made committments to cooperate with the United States to fight terror.

Fulfillment of the commitments made by the states concerning anti-terrorist efforts, including trial or, as appropriate, extradition of the masterminds of terrorist acts, is an ethical duty and a golden rule in hemispheric cooperation.

Unfortunately, Bush can ignore this suggestion and there will be no public outcry, because the "liberal" media are doing their best to ignore this entire story. But whenever he holds up a picture of some other terror mastermind, the "left-wing" media will be all over it.

Do justice a favor: write a letter to the editor of your local paper and urge them to follow this story and to report on it regularly. Don't let America remain IN THE DARK.

Terrorist Posada's Ties to CIA Miami Office Revealed

The Miami Herald uncovered CIA documents on a FOIA request that highlight Luis Posada Carriles's employment by the Miami bureau of the Central Intelligence Agency.

The story also notes that Posada, who a US Federal Court refused to extradite to Venezuela to stand trial for the 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner killing 76 people, is seeking US citizenship.

Astounding.

"...You Have to Down Planes, You Have to Sink Ships, You Have to be Prepared to Attack Anything that is Within Your Reach..."

Are we, or are we not, fighting a "war on terror?"

Why is the United States of America refusing to bring a terrorist who is in our possession to justice? The handling of the case of Luis Posada Carriles makes a mockery of both the Bush administration and the news media's creation and propaganda of this so-called "war on terror."

One of Posada's acomplices, Orlando Bosch, pardoned by the first Bush regime in 1991, was interviewed last week by a Miami television reporter. Here is an example of the thoughts of one of OUR terrorists (the emphases, however, are mine):

Juan Manuel Cao (interviewer): In that action 76 persons were killed (the correct figure is 73, including a pregnant passenger)?
Orlando Bosch: No chico, in a war such as us cubans who love liberty wage against the tyrant, you have to down planes, you have to sink ships, you have to be prepared to attack anything that is within your reach.

Is this what Americans are dying in Iraq for? Is this what we are preparing for war with Iran for? Ask yourself, how in the world can we support terrorists and claim to be waging a war on terror?

Juan Manuel Cao: If you ran into the family members who were killed in that plane, wouldn't you think it difficult . . . ?
Orlando Bosch: No, because in the end those who were there had to know that they were cooperating with the tyranny in Cuba.

Yes, this guy was pardoned by George Herbert Walker Bush, former President, former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. His accomplice, Posada, may very likely be pardoned by George W. Bush at the end of his term.

I love America. But THIS is not America.

US : We Won't Invade Venezuela -- Chavez : US Harbors "The Bin Laden of Latin America"

An update on the "NEW AXIS OF EVIL" ^TM

US Ambassador to Venezuela William Brownfield denied yesterday that the US has plans prepared for the invasion of Venezuela, a charge made earlier this month at the United Nations by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

A coup in 2002 that briefly unseated Chavez is widely seen as supported by the CIA and the Bush administration. At the very the US shared information with the coup plotters and did not inform the Venezuelan government.

Rest easy, good reader. I'm sure we would never invade a sovereign nation without a good reason, without hard and fast evidence of imminent danger. Would we?

Meanwhile, Hugo Chavez reacted angrily to this week's decision by Judge William Abbott in Texas not to deport terrorist Luis Posada Carriles to either Venezuela or Cuba, where he is wanted for the bombing of a Cuban airliner in 1976.

Chavez said during a visit to Brazil on Thursday that the U.S. ruling allows the Bush administration to protect one of Latin America's most notorious terrorists. He called Posada "the (Osama) bin Laden of Latin America a torturer, an assassin."

Where are the "liberal" media on this story? Why do Americans remain IN THE DARK about the fact that we're protecting a terrorist? I believe that if more Americans knew about this story, about Posada, about what he's done, we would give him up in an instant, because he is terrorist scum.

The American people support neither terrorism nor terrorists. Mr. President, you're either with us, or you're against us....

US Protects International Terrorist Luis Posada Carriles

Judge prevents deportation of Cuban militant Luis Posada Carriles: South Florida Sun-Sentinel

This is not a shock, but it is disheartening, and gives the lie to Bush administration claims to be fighting against terrorism. Empty, shallow lies.

Luis Posada Carriles is a terrorist--there is little, if any, doubt about that. CIA documents link him to the 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner (among other things). But we will not extradite him to countries that want to try him, and we will not deport him to those countries either, even though the President of the Organization of American States has asked the Bush administration to do just that.

It seems that there are good terrorists and there are bad terrorists. This level of intellectual and moral consistency is par for the course Bush & Co. have set.

Is the US "war on terror" for real? Or is it a war on people who do not accept the agenda of the Project for a New American Century? Only George W. Bush and his administration can answer this question, and the answer will be made clear by their actions, not their rhetoric. The words have been very clear:

“All governments that support terror are complicit in a war against civilization.” – President Bush's UN speech, 9/23/03

The actions have been a little muddier.

Will you be following this story on your evening news? Doubt it...

Vice President of Venezuela Says Bush a 'Hypocrite' for Protecting a Terrorist

Vice President of Venezuela Says Bush a 'Hypocrite' for Protecting a Terrorist


Luis Posada Carriles has been in US custody for nearly two weeks. I have argued that if anyone can ever look at the "US war on terror" as legitimate, we must extradite Posada immediately to stand trial for the 1976 bombing of a Cubana airliner that killed 76 people. So far, the US has merely charged him with illegaly entering the country, a relatively minor charge.

Now, the Vice President of Venezuela (see "The New Axis of Evil"^TM), José Vicente Rangel, is calling George Bush out.

If terrorism is not totally condemned in all its forms, does this not put one on the side of the terrorists? Bush only condemns terrorism when it suits him, and protects terrorists that supported him or his father’s [policies] in the world. There can be no such ambiguity, because there can be no good terrorism and bad terrorism.

If we don't extradite Posada, then the whole world sees that
THE US "WAR ON TERROR" IS A SHAM!!!!

Posada Charged With Illegal Entry

Top News Article Reuters.com

As expected, the Bush administration has bought some more time. They've had since March to act. Posada has confirmed he came to the US then and applied for asylum.

While the United States has not said anything about whether it would send Posada to Venezuela, a previous statement by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) threw into question whether it would approve sending him to a country that is so friendly with Cuba.

"As a matter of immigration law and policy, ICE does not generally remove people to Cuba, nor does ICE generally remove people to countries believed to be acting on Cuba's behalf," it said in a statement on Tuesday.

No, but extraordinary rendition of suspected terrorists to Egypt, Morocco, Syria, and Jordan where they almost certainly face torture--that's okay with us....

Extradite Terrorist Posada Carriles

The State 05/18/2005 Luis Posada Carriles

Here's a challenge to George W. Bush's America (as opposed to the REAL America): Now that you've got former CIA operative Posada in custody, extradite him to Venezuela (see New Axis of Evil^TM) to faces charges of murder and terrorism in the 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner. It would be hypocritical to do otherwise. As Bush himself once said, "If you harbor terrorists, you are a terrorist."

Let's wait and watch....

Victims Protest Terrorist's Release by US Judge

An Update on the "So-called War on Terror"^TM

The relatives of 72 people killed by the 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner grieved for their loved ones on Wednesday and protested the planned release of the planner of the attack, Luis Posada Carilles, by a US court. Posada, a Cuban exile and former CIA operative who participated in both the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba and the illegal supply of arms to the Contra army under the Reagan administration, will be free on $250,000 bond soon, thanks to US District Judge Kathleen Cardone.

"I'm outraged,'' said Iliana Alfonso, whose father was among those killed on the Cubana de Aviacion flight that exploded off Barbados. "In the United States, they are talking about good terrorism and bad terrorism. To me, all terrorism is bad.''

Welcome to the United States of America as envisioned by George W. Bush and the Project for a New American Century. The point Ms. Alfonse is missing is that the US is inherently good, and any act undertaken in our interest is inherently good. So, yes, we can point to bad terrorists and we can celebrate our own good terrorists. Or so the logic goes...

Still, Ms. Alfonso stubbornly insists on making moral judgments:

It is not ethical to unleash wars against terrorism, provoking the deaths of thousands of citizens in distant parts of the world while sheltering in its own territory terrorists who are self-confessed and still active.

Again, ethics has nothing to do with it. We are, by definition, right, so anything we do is right. That is the value system we're working within in the neo-con mindset. Oh, and Democracy? The idea of government being responsive to "will of the people?"Don't hold your breath. And laws?

The Venezuelan Foreign Ministry on Wednesday also slammed the U.S. court decision, accusing the United States of protecting a "terrorist.''

And they're right. We are harboring a terrorist, much to our shame (well, I'm ashamed we're harboring a terrorist, but I don't know if you are. But you ought to be). George W. Bush has brought shame and disgrace on the United States of America.

HE SHOULD BE IMPEACHED.

US Court Releases Terrorist Posada

An Update on the "So-called War on Terror"^TM

Terrorism suspect and former CIA operative Luis Posada Carriles, linked by declassified CIA documents to the 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner that killed 76 people, is set to be released pending a hearing on immigration fraud charges. Read all about him at the above link. Read the declassified CIA documents at the above link. Read about the people he killed -- including high school students -- at the above link.

Read about how his accomplice and former CIA colleague, Orlando Bosch, was pardoned for his many crimes by the first President Bush, all at the above link. Read through it all in the twenty posts I've made in the last two years.

And then I'd love to hear from you to explain to me why you don't think that the so-called "war on terror" is a complete and utter sham.