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Anti-Castro Militant Worked for CIA During Iran-Contra

By Jeralyn, Section Foreign Affairs
Posted on Sun May 29, 2005 at 09:58:04 AM EST
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The U.S. has rejected Venezuela's request for an arrest warrant to commence extradition proceedings against anti-Castro militant Luis Posadas Carriles.

Venezuela's embassy in Washington said Friday the United States had rejected a "preventive detention request with the goal of the extradition of Luis Posada Carriles." The rejection does not affect Caracas' extradition request, the embassy said in a statement.

"We have sent a diplomatic note to the Venezuelan embassy today (Friday), saying that the request lacked sufficient basis from a legal point of view," a US official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

There were large protests over the decision this week. Check out this protest poster. So who is Posada and why is the U.S. refusing to turn him over?

The AP has this update today on the man who allegedly blew up a Cuban airliner in 1976 killing 73 people, tried to kill Castro and then went to work for the CIA helping Oliver North provide aid to the Contras.

In 1985, Posada was deeply involved in the Reagan administration's attempt to topple the Soviet Union-leaning Sandinistas by selling weapons to Iran and using the money for the Contra rebels, according to the final Iran-Contra report issued by independent counsel Lawrence E. Walsh.

...According to the Walsh report, Posada helped ensure proper distribution of some of the $6 million collected for the Contras by Lt. Col. Oliver North, a White House National Security Council aide who spearheaded the operation. The cash was brought to El Salvador from Miami by Southern Air Transport, an air cargo company that was actually a CIA front.

....After his Iran-Contra duties in 1990, Posada was shot and wounded by unknown gunmen in Guatemala. Cuba blames him for a string of 1997 bombings in Cuba, one of which killed an Italian tourist. Posada was jailed in Panama in 2000 for an alleged plot to assassinate Castro during a conference, but he was pardoned last August by Panama's outgoing president. Then in March, Posada surfaced in Miami after crossing the U.S. border with Mexico to seek asylum in the United States.

Both Cuba and Venezuela are seeking his extradition. Posada escaped from a Venezuelan jail while awaiting retrial on charges relating to the blowing up of the Cuban airliner. He has not been convicted of that crime. The conservative, Miami Cuban-American community is backing Posada and Cuba is attempting to enlist the Phillipines in its extradition request.

Posada was arrested in Texas on May 17 after he crossed the border from Mexico. He is being held on immigration charges and has requested asylum.

Posada Carriles, 77, has been under arrest in the United States since May 17 on immigration charges after requesting US political asylum. He is also wanted in Cuba for the bombings of two Havana tourist hotels in 2000, in which an Italian businessman died. He was found guilty in Panama of attempting to assassinate Castro at a summit in Panama City, but he was pardoned in 2004 by Panama's then president Mireya Moscoso.

A hearing is scheduled for June 13, when government lawyers are expected to ask for deportation and when Posada's attorneys plan to renew his asylum request.

This case is going to be a big deal for Bush, who is now being accused by Venezuelan officials of having a double standard in the war on terror.

If it came to that, it's not clear where Posada would be deported to. U.S. officials have already indicated they would not deport him to Venezuela, an ally of Cuba. On Friday, the U.S. Department of Justice denied a request from Venezuela, where Posada had lived for several years, to detain Posada on charges related to the 1976 Cuban jetliner bombing.

Venezuelan officials said they intend to renew that request later -- and Venezuelan Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel on Saturday blasted U.S. officials as ``hypocritical.'' ''They condemn terrorism on the one hand, and on the other they protect terrorists,'' Rangel said in a veiled reference to Posada as he led a protest demanding Posada's extradition.

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    Anti-Castro Militant Worked for CIA During Iran-Contra | 40 comments (40 topical)
    Re: Anti-Castro Militant Worked for CIA During Ira (none / 0) (#1)
    by ppjakajim on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:26 PM EST
    et al - Turning this person over to the current givernment in Venezuela would be just like turning him over to Cuba. As for the protests.... "The protesters, supporters of President Hugo Chavez...." That says it all. This man...."who allegedly blew up a Cuban airliner in 1976..." Well, innocent until proven guilty, eh? As for the contra charges, well, they worked for me, so no harm there.. And doesn't the Left call people like this "insurgents?"

    Re: Anti-Castro Militant Worked for CIA During Ira (none / 0) (#2)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:26 PM EST
    'Anti-Castro militant'? What kind of bullsh*t is that? This ex-CIA agent ADMITS to blowing up the first civilian airliner in the W. hemisphere (Cubana airlines). He is responsible for the deaths of an entire Cuban sports' squad, in that attack, and has blown up a hotel lobby, among other crimes. He is a TERRORIST, not some kind of political operative, unless Bin Laden is a political operative too. The rightwing protects its own, and as a favor to Floridian billionaires, the guy is spirited out of Honduras, flown to the US, and then put into a Texas jail, rather than properly extradited to V., where he will go on trial for his crimes against the Venezuelan people, many of whom died in his attacks. Democracy Now! on Posada

    Re: Anti-Castro Militant Worked for CIA During Ira (none / 0) (#3)
    by ppjakajim on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:26 PM EST
    PIL - There may be hope for you, yet. I mean you OBL is a terrorist to those he is attacking. (In case you don't know, that's us.)He is a hero to those who support him. All you have to do now is figure out which side you are on.

    Re: Anti-Castro Militant Worked for CIA During Ira (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:26 PM EST
    Yeah, Jim, boohoo to you wingers, but the Venezuelans who supply 30% of US oil have EXTRADITION treaties with the US, and harboring terrorists is NOT legal under our law. Allegedly doesn't cover the terrain. This man ADMITS to terrorist acts -- indeed, he has bragged about them. Venezuela is not at war with the US, though the reverse is not necessarily true. Bush harbors terrorists, and arms violent dictators (Islam Karimov), participates in torture (rendition) -- so this is no surprise. Nor is your support. If YOUR family had been blown up in a hotel lobby, you might sing a different tune. There is no reason to suspect that this criminal would not receive a legal trial in Venezuela.

    Re: Anti-Castro Militant Worked for CIA During Ira (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:26 PM EST
    Hey, Jimbo, OBL is the brother of a former business partner of Bush's. YOU support OBL, not me. You also supported Hussein back during the Reagan/Bush, while I was out on the streets demanding that the US stop arming him and furthering his crimes. Bush let OBL escape from Tora Bora. Why did he do that? Why did he pass on three opportunities to kill Zarkawi? Why did he attack AN INNOCENT COUNTRY over trumped up lies? YOU support terrorists, Jim, not me. And here you are defending them yet again. So naturally you want to tar others who have NEVER supported terrorists a single day of their lives, but in fact fought them from the time I was 12. The Vietnam war WAS terrorism, and you supported that fiasco too.

    Re: Anti-Castro Militant Worked for CIA During Ira (none / 0) (#6)
    by jarober on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:26 PM EST
    I thought TL was opposed to turning people over when the result would be certain death. But oh, I forgot - this guy is on the wrong side, so it doesn't matter. Makes me think that your support of Corby Schappelle would not have happened had she been a well known conservative.

    Re: Anti-Castro Militant Worked for CIA During Ira (none / 0) (#7)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:26 PM EST
    No, correction, he doesn't admit to the Cubana airliner bombing -- he is identified by the FBI as having been at the meetings planning that act. He does, though I can't find the reference off-hand, admit to the hotel lobby bombings. Anyhow, who else but the Venezuelan's ought to prosecute a terrorist who worked for V. intelligence back in the bad old days? They have the goods to take him to trial, and they have the right, and the extradition treaty. Done deal, except for Bush-liar hypocrisy. This is entirely similar to the 'work' that 'ex'-CIA agent Allawi did in Bagdad in 1995, blowing up schoolbuses and movie theaters, supposedly in order to topple Hussein (as if killing innocent people would do that).

    Re: Anti-Castro Militant Worked for CIA During Ira (none / 0) (#8)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:26 PM EST
    'Certain death'? What makes you say that? Venezuela is not a bivoac, a bunch of natives living in tents. The guy will receive a fair trial, and he's 77 years old. So any imprisonment will result in his death, but that's certainly what his victims suffered. This is like protecting Tim McVey. You are supporting the harboring of McVey. Why would you do that, James?

    Re: Anti-Castro Militant Worked for CIA During Ira (none / 0) (#9)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:26 PM EST
    If the administration is actually in a war on terrorism, they would prosecute this guy. If they equivocate on prosecution of this guy who may have blown up an airliner, then it must follow that the war on terrorism is a political fiction, not any genuine effort to send a signal that violence against civilian populations will lead to prosecution. Of course, given the violence against the civilian population of Iraq by US forces, it should be hard for any US official to pontificate about terrorism, but some still find a way. And Jim, yes, he's innocent until proven guilty, so let's extradite him to one of the countries that wants to try him and determine guilt or innocence. It's called due process. Extradition to countries with whom we have extradition treaties is part of the due process.

    Re: Anti-Castro Militant Worked for CIA During Ira (none / 0) (#10)
    by Andreas on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:26 PM EST
    Venezuela wants CIA terrorist extradited Bush administration forced to detain Posada Carriles By Bill Van Auken, 18 May 2005 State Department: “We don’t know if top terrorist is in US” By Bill Van Auken, 5 May 2005 Wanted for jetliner bombing Bush silent as top terrorist seeks US asylum By Bill Van Auken, 14 April 2005

    Re: Anti-Castro Militant Worked for CIA During Ira (none / 0) (#11)
    by DawesFred60 on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:26 PM EST
    You do know what i would do to castro don't you? and i would do it slowly, and put it on DVD, So people can watch. hate is forever, and i would have fun doing it, to old castor, but i have no love for the drug dealer in the so called Anit-castor. by the way the bush family loves the so called anit-castor boys and used the boys for many years against us all. hitler-bush-castor-saddam-fox-mao-stalin-bin laden, are all one person, evil.

    Re: Anti-Castro Militant Worked for CIA During Ira (none / 0) (#12)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:26 PM EST
    Nice try, James Robertson. I didn't take any position, I just reported the news. No, I would not support turning any human being over to a country where they would be killed or tortured. If he would be given a fair trial, that's another story. I'm just learning about this man, it's too soon for me to take a position.

    Re: Anti-Castro Militant Worked for CIA During Ira (none / 0) (#13)
    by Che's Lounge on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:26 PM EST
    Fred, Yearning for the old Bautista mafia are we? Maybe now might be a good time for you to back up your arguements with some info as to why Castro was so bad for Cuba? He's not the problem, he's the result. And Venezuela does not have the death penalty.

    Re: Anti-Castro Militant Worked for CIA During Ira (none / 0) (#14)
    by ppjakajim on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:27 PM EST
    CA - Do you really believe he would get justice in Cuba or Venezuela? Come on. That's funny! PIL - Writes - "Hey, Jimbo, OBL is the brother of a former business partner of Bush's. YOU support OBL, not me." US Congressman Ford (Dem TN) announced last week that he will run for the US Senate seat vacated by Frist's leaving. The next day his Uncle, TN State Senator Harold Ford was arrested for extortion. Guess no will support the Congressman. Obviously his association with his Uncle... (That sound you hear is me laughing.) Guilt by association, eh? And no, I didn't support Saddam. I supported our USE of Saddam. Think of it as cataching a snake you're gonna throw into a pit of rats. PIL, what you refuse to understand is that the use of people such as Carriles is a time honored tactic in war. I do find it most humorous that the Left, who condemns such people as terrorists, drag their feet on calling people who blow up car bombs, "terrorist."

    Re: Anti-Castro Militant Worked for CIA During Ira (none / 0) (#15)
    by Ernesto Del Mundo on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:27 PM EST
    Shorter PPJ: Iraqi Car Bombers = bad terrorists Luis Posada Carriles = good terrorist

    Re: Anti-Castro Militant Worked for CIA During Ira (none / 0) (#16)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:27 PM EST
    So who is Posada and why is the U.S. refusing to turn him over?
    Why, that's easy. He's an accused terrorist, who will never be tried for his crimes, as the "tough-on-terror" Bush admin. needs the votes of the Cuban Exile community to help his lil' brother hang onto office in FL. Ernesto Del Mundo, that's a 4.0 with high-order secondary detonations!

    Re: Anti-Castro Militant Worked for CIA During Ira (none / 0) (#17)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:27 PM EST
    CA - Do you really believe he would get justice in Cuba or Venezuela? Come on. That's funny! Citation please if you have good reason to believe that the Cuban or Venezuelan justice systems would fail to treat Mr. Posada fairly. Myself, I am convinced that Posada could get as good a trial in Cuba as Leonard Pelletier got here in the US. And a better trial than Maher Arar got from the United States when we kidnapped, excuse me, arrested Arar. That's not saying he would necessarily get a good or fair trial, but I read somewhere that before you comment on the mote of dust in another's eye, you should remove the plank from your own.

    Re: Anti-Castro Militant Worked for CIA During Ira (none / 0) (#18)
    by ppjakajim on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:27 PM EST
    CA - Surely you jest. You want some Castro type justice? Oh well, at least they didn't flush his bible down the john. Ernesto - Shorter, please? OK! An enemy of my enemy is my friend.

    Re: Anti-Castro Militant Worked for CIA During Ira (none / 0) (#19)
    by Randinho on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:27 PM EST
    PPJ, The paucity of your knowledge on Posada is matched only by the greatness of your bombast. According to Honduran authorities, last August Posada entered Honduras with an altered US passport. Posada had been convicted in Panama of plotting to kill Castro by bombing the Ibero-American Summit in 2000. Panama's ex-president,Mireya Moscoso now facing corruption charges, pardoned Posada. So he is a convicted terrorist. As for republican softness on terrorism, consider that President Bush's father when his own attorney general, Richard Thornburgh recommended that Orlando Bosch be deported from the US as an "unreformed terrorist," then President Bush overruled him and allowed Bosch to stay eventually leading to his permanent resident status. Bosch was one of the other figures behind the Cubana Airlines bombing. Consider this as well:
    [Republican] Reps. Lincoln Diaz-Balart and [Ileana] Ros-Lehtinen, with the backing of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, wrote letters on behalf of several exile militants held in U.S. prisons for acts of political violence. Some were released in 2001, including Jose Dionisio Suarez Esquivel and Virgilio Paz Romero, both convicted for the notorious 1976 car bomb-murder of Chilean diplomat Orlando Letelier and his American assistant Ronnie Moffitt, in Washington. Once released, instead of being deported like other non-citizen criminals, they have been allowed to settle into the good life in Miami.
    So, perhaps when you choose to lecture Paul in LA about terrorism, perhaps you should consider starting these lectures with the GOP.

    Re: Anti-Castro Militant Worked for CIA During Ira (none / 0) (#20)
    by Randinho on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:27 PM EST
    Left out the article link to the blockquoted text in the previous post. Here it is.

    Re: Anti-Castro Militant Worked for CIA During Ira (none / 0) (#21)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:27 PM EST
    An enemy of my enemy is my friend. Need I remind you, Jim, that this strategy gave us Osama Bin Laden? Maybe there is a better way to identify your friends? Like shared values?

    Re: Anti-Castro Militant Worked for CIA During Ira (none / 0) (#22)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:27 PM EST
    An enemy of my enemy is my friend.
    PPJ, still treading out this tired old fallacious argument, I see. Of course, you ignore the fact that it's an incredibly short-sighted basis for policy, one that ignores the ever-present reality of Blowback. CA-My point, exactly. Well said.

    Re: Anti-Castro Militant Worked for CIA During Ira (none / 0) (#23)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:27 PM EST
    You want some Castro type justice? Your link to an anecdotal, undocmented diatribe against Che does nothing to persuade me that Cuba's current justice system could not accommodate Mr. Posada.

    Re: Anti-Castro Militant Worked for CIA During Ira (none / 0) (#24)
    by ppjakajim on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:27 PM EST
    Adept - Lots of "well said" floating around today. CA - And saved thousands of American troops in WWII, saved us from having to intervene in the ME in the mid 80's against Iran, and hastened the end of the Cold War. Other than that, no benefits at all. And I would want you to believe anything against the sainted Che. Of course there have been a few thousand such stories. Guess they are all just lies, lies I tell you!

    Re: Anti-Castro Militant Worked for CIA During Ira (none / 0) (#25)
    by Ernesto Del Mundo on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:27 PM EST
    PPJ...yeah I understand that Che Guevara once ripped babies out of an incubator in Kuwait. Uh huh and he also had weapons of mass destruction. That's right. Yep, not to mention he was also known to fart in elevators. I heard it from a guy I know in Miami whose cousin was there at the time.

    Re: Anti-Castro Militant Worked for CIA During Ira (none / 0) (#26)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:27 PM EST
    and your hallucinations about Che have what to do with the Cuban justice system?

    Re: Anti-Castro Militant Worked for CIA During Ira (none / 0) (#27)
    by Che's Lounge on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:27 PM EST
    ANY justice in Cuba or Venezuela would be more than any terrorist gets in the US. Which is NONE.

    Re: Anti-Castro Militant Worked for CIA During Ira (none / 0) (#28)
    by ppjakajim on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:27 PM EST
    Ernesto, Che, CA - The facts regarding the killings by Castro and Che are exceedingly well known. You may deny them until your lips turn blue, but the dead will still be dead and the truth will still be the truth. What you will not admit is that the difference in all of this is simple, and should be remembered on Memorial Day. Our nation is founded on beliefs that have stood the test of time. We belief in freedom and opportunity and in the basic goodness of man. In the battles of our time terrible things have been done, but at the end, you must go back to what we want, and who we are. The Axis of WWII fought for the right to kill and rape in China, for Comfort Girls in Korea, for gas ovens and millions executed in Germany. We fought only to rid the world of them. We asked only that we be given space to bury our dead. Communism, like all "isms," stands for the suppression of the individual and the right of only the state. Stalin killed millions as did Mao. Castro was but a small bump on their face, but he and Che was a virulent one. Having "liberated" Cuba from a bad regime they immediately made Batista look benign. The fight against communism lasted over 40 years, and many died in Cold War that required much sacrifice, but yet had few heros. I know nothing about the innocence or guilt of this man beyond the fact that he fought against Castro's regime. If he blew up airplanes, I condemn him, and wish there was a way we could try him in the US and determine the truth. But no, I will not agree to send him to the current government in Venezuela which would be but a stop on the way to Castro's Cuba. That island has a history of long show trials and quick executed.

    Re: Anti-Castro Militant Worked for CIA During Ira (none / 0) (#29)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:27 PM EST
    Jim, you like many of us, confuse things you strongly believe with things that are well known or proven. I did a quick search last night on Che and the sites I sampled reported a doctor who became a revolutionary. If you think there are numerous well founded and well documented cases of Che committing egregious atrocities, provide the links. And please, something with a little more substance than what you posted above. It might as well be "he threw babies out of the windows to get their incubators." Lots of us know fabricated propaganda when we see it. When Che was safe and in the halls of power in Cuba, what did he do? He went to Bolivia to work on revolution with Bolivian peasants. Kind of the same way that your hero Ron Reagan helped in WWII? Or the same way that your hero Dubya helped and risked himself during the Vietnam War? Che could have hung around, collected benefits and be running his own catfish stand outside of Havana, the mirror of your own, if his compelling interest was in mana. He instead was called to help the oppressed and could not say no to the call. Now, I disagree with Che on tactics, being more in line with Gandhi and King, but I completely understand what motivated Che and I don't think that motivation is compatible with wanton slaughter of human beings. You find ways to defend someone like Posada. Check this link to a newspaper article about his history on the plane bombing. Note that he as acquitted twice in Venezuelan courts, sounds like they have a justice system that demands a significant level of proof. Maybe this is a weak case? I don't know if Venezuela has double jeopardy or why Posada would be tried three times. If you want to research that, go ahead, but two acquittals says something to me. Also note that Posada himself claimed credit for bombing hotels in Havana in 1997 during an interview with the NYT in 1998. It used to be that Americans just chuckled to themselves and shook their heads when right wing nut cases started on their rants. Now thanks to corporate funding and the Supreme Court, the right wing nut cases are running the country into the ground and people like Jim are cheering and waving the flag. It would be comical if the long term impact of Jim's foolishness was to be visited on him, but it will fall on his grandchildren and my grandchildren and that bothers me. Jim is oblivious, maybe he has no grandchildren?

    Re: Anti-Castro Militant Worked for CIA During Ira (none / 0) (#30)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:27 PM EST
    Posada interview in which he admits to bombing hotels. Once people talk to journalists and admit to terrorist acts, I figure they are a terrorist. I defind terrorism as warfare directed against civilian populations, women, children, the elderly as well as military age men who are not in uniform. I think this definition is useful because it is works across the political spectrum. If your activities - flying passenger planes into buildings, bombing passenger planes, bombing hotels - target civilian populations, then you are a terrorist. If we want to war on terrorism, then I think we need to condemn terrorism and have a stable definition of terrorism that works across the political spectrum. Otherwise, it's all just political smoke and mirrors, with no real substance or value. There is no political pragmatism available where we can excuse our "terrorists" if we are serious about reducing terrorism in the world.

    Re: Anti-Castro Militant Worked for CIA During Ira (none / 0) (#31)
    by Ernesto Del Mundo on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:28 PM EST
    Che was a virulent one. Having "liberated" Cuba from a bad regime they immediately made Batista look benign.
    They executed a lot of Batista's henchmen, those that didn't make it to Miami. Are you against the death penalty for treason and murder, Jim? If so you have grounds for your criticism. If Castro is guilty of anything it is using US-supported terrorism against Cuba as an excuse to limit civil liberties in Cuba. Of course, exploiting terror attacks is something that no politician would eeeeeeever do in the United States.

    Re: Anti-Castro Militant Worked for CIA During Ira (none / 0) (#32)
    by Che's Lounge on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:28 PM EST
    Of course there have been a few thousand such stories. Guess they are all just lies, lies I tell you! You finally got it right. Just stories.

    Re: Anti-Castro Militant Worked for CIA During Ira (none / 0) (#33)
    by Randinho on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:28 PM EST
    PPJ Still couldn't address the facts that I brought up, still ignored Pappy Bush's welcoming of the terrorist Orlando Bosch. How typical.

    Re: Anti-Castro Militant Worked for CIA During Ira (none / 0) (#34)
    by ppjakajim on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:28 PM EST
    CA - If you think Che's and Castro's crimes are debatable you have another thought coming. I don't debate the fact that the sun comes up everyday and water is wet. Ernesto writes - "They executed a lot of Batista's henchmen, those that didn't make it to Miami." Let's change this to: "The US executed a lot of Saddam's henchmen, those that didn't make it to Syria." No problem with that? Are you ready to withdraw your complaints about the way the prisoners were allegedly treated? BTW - You just made my link to the Re: Anti-Castro Militant Worked for CIA During Ira (none / 0) (#35)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:28 PM EST
    Keep telling the stories, Jim. I think it's working.

    Re: Anti-Castro Militant Worked for CIA During Ira (none / 0) (#36)
    by ppjakajim on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:28 PM EST
    CA - Well at least I have Ernesto telling the truth.

    Re: Anti-Castro Militant Worked for CIA During Ira (none / 0) (#37)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:28 PM EST
    The suggestion that Venezuela would extradite to Cuba is nonsense. They have a case, and THEY want to try it. Distracting by referring to Cuban history is just distracting, the job of people not seeking the truth. Jim: "And no, I didn't support Saddam. I supported our USE of Saddam. Think of it as cataching a snake you're gonna throw into a pit of rats." What a lovely racist comment. You supported 'using' Hussein to kill Kurds by the tens of thousands. You supported 'using' Hussein to kill many thousands of other Iraqis, and to kill over a million soldiers in a useless war with Iran. That's because you don't believe that Iraqis, Kurds, or Iranians, are legitimate human beings with the same inherent rights as yourself. "PIL, what you refuse to understand is that the use of people such as Carriles is a time honored tactic in war." The power of war is reserved to the Congress. When did the Congress approve of 'using Carriles'? Indeed, the Congress has specifically disapproved of such state (US)-supported terrorism. It's racism, Jim, not 'war.' You guys support terrorism, and you are whores -- you do not fight against terrorism, unless there is profit for your favored companies. And you ignore the evidence when it is blatantly displayed, that terrorism is not your enemy -- your enemy is your enemy. You don't have any values in that fight -- though you lie that what you believe is values' based. Fact is, your views are racism based.

    Re: Anti-Castro Militant Worked for CIA During Ira (none / 0) (#39)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:28 PM EST
    This will be my only post on this thread about this, but Paul: Your comment is dead on. Now, the minute I hear a significant amount of Democratic U.S. Senators stand on the floor of the U.S. Senate and explain those realities about our foreign policies (i.e. Sadaam Hussein); the motivations of Conservative constituencies to support those politics; and further explaining their reasoning for voting against illegal warfare, more money for it, and other Neocon outrages, I will be more positive about the direction of the Democratic Party.

    Re: Anti-Castro Militant Worked for CIA During Ira (none / 0) (#38)
    by Ernesto Del Mundo on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:29 PM EST
    No problem with that? Are you ready to withdraw your complaints about the way the prisoners were allegedly treated?
    No. First of all, Batista's henchmen were tried by their own countrymen. Not by an occupying power. If the Iraqis overthrew Saddam and gave him the death penalty, that's the equivalent of what happened in Cuba in 1959. They got trials, PPJ. Trials. By their own people. Hello?

    Re: Anti-Castro Militant Worked for CIA During Ira (none / 0) (#40)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:29 PM EST
    I presume you mean 'not' voting against. TS, politics, in which you are immersed, is not a Democratic party invention. Though leftists commonly declare the world purged of all evil, the fact is that the future in which that is true is not with us yet. The parties in power are the ones who will guide that path, and it is CLEAR that the R party is 'the most vulnerable to error.' There isn't much of a choice, and there won't be any time soon. If we had some eggs, we could have ham and eggs, if we had any ham. In order to arrive anywhere, we have to make REAL political choices, and not just cling to rhetorical purity. We need to focus our party on correcting the vote fraud, and ramping up impeachment over the 2002 propaganda campaign -- not fighting over the lack of saints and heroes to carry our sedan chairs.

    Anti-Castro Militant Worked for CIA During Iran-Contra | 40 comments (40 topical)