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September 14, 2004
WATCH OUT, FLORIDA...
So if known terrorists are being harbored somewhere, and we accept the W Doctrine that lands are either for stopping terrorists or against it, and proactive action against those lands that accept terrorists is the proper course of action... then I guess we can expect the Tomahawk missile strikes against Disneyworld and Universal to begin any moment, followed by bombing runs over Miami.
As Jillian over at The Snarky Cat points out, the United States just accepted into Florida four known terrorists, including one who blew up a plane with 73 people aboard. We knew they were coming, and they were met at Opa-Locka airport, questioned briefly, then allowed to enter the country, met by cheering throngs and open arms.
How did this happen, you ask? Well, maybe it's because these terrorists aren't Muslims, and didn't bomb the West. They're Cuban, and they went after a leader we don't like. But in George W. Bush's black and white world, apparently any tactic is acceptable if it's applied against someone we don't like.
As an editorial in the L.A. Times (free registration required) wrote:
The fourth man, Luis Posada Carriles, was the most notorious member of this anti-Castro cell. He is an escapee from a prison in Venezuela, where he was incarcerated for blowing up an Air Cubana passenger plane in 1976, killing 73. He also admitted plotting six hotel bombings in Havana that killed one tourist and injured 11 others in 1997. Posada has gone into hiding in Honduras while seeking a Central American country that will harbor him, prompting Honduran President Ricardo Maduro to demand an explanation from the Bush administration on how a renowned terrorist could enter his country using a false U.S. passport.
The terrorist backgrounds of Posada's three comrades-in-arms are as well documented as their leader's. Guillermo Novo once fired a bazooka at the U.N. building; in February 1979, he was convicted and sentenced to 40 years for conspiracy in the 1976 assassination of former Chilean diplomat Orlando Letelier and his American colleague, Ronni Moffitt, in Washington. (His conviction was subsequently vacated on a legal technicality.) Gaspar Jimenez was convicted and imprisoned in Mexico in 1977 for murdering a Cuban consulate official; he was released by authorities in 1983. Pedro Remon received a 10-year sentence in 1986 for conspiring to kill Cuba's ambassador to the United Nations in 1980.
These are violent men. Panamanian prosecutors said they had planned to detonate 33 pounds of explosives while Castro was speaking at a university in Panama. Had they not been intercepted by the authorities, the blast not only would have killed the Cuban president but quite possibly hundreds of others gathered to hear him speak during the inter-American summit.
So to sum up, we have men responsible for the deaths of 77 people, one of whom fired a bazooka at the UN, two others who either murdered or conspired to murder international diplomats, and all of whom were caught planning to detonate 33 pounds of explosives at a crowded university. These are the textbook definition of international terrorists, are they not? These are the kinds of men that ol' W and John Ashcroft would be all set to snare the moment they set foot on our shore, right?
Uh, wrong. Guess not. Why, may you ask? The answer is simple.
Florida is crucial to Bush's reelection strategy. Currying favor with anti-Castro constituents in Miami appears to trump the president's anti-terrorism principles. So far, not a single White House, State Department or Homeland Security official has expressed outrage at Panama's decision to put terrorists back on the world's streets.
If 9/11 should have taught us anything, it is that no cause can ever justify wanton violence against innocents. Yet there is a community that considers these men "freedom fighters" -- much as hard-line Islamic fundamentalists consider suicide bombers and the 9/11 hijackers to be -- and Bush needs that community. So his so-called principles are left behind. Once again, George W. Bush has proven that he will do anything to get elected, even if it means letting convicted terrorists roam our streets.
Say, I just remembered something. The two largest Arabic communities in the country are in the Detroit area and in/around Patterson, New Jersey. Michigan is a swing state that Bush needs... and New Jersey has 15 electoral votes.
If we are to judge Bush by his demonstrated track record, I guess we can expect that Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri will be given US passports soon and welcomed to America with open arms. (It wouldn't work; these Arabic-American communities are as patriotic and loyal as any other ethnic community... but I doubt that such a nuance would occur to such a power-mad crew as the current regime.)
Thanks again to Jillian for drawing my attention to this shameful story.
