By Kenneth J. Theisen, 4/21/07
According to the Bush regime, the U.S. is fighting a “war on
terrorism.” On September 11, 2001,
President Bush announced, “We will make no distinction between the terrorists
who committed these acts and those who harbor them.” This would seem to
unequivocally commit the U.S.
to treat all terrorists and their supporters alike. Well not quite. Recently I wrote about the Chiquita banana
case where U.S.
corporate officials cut a deal with the U.S. Justice Department after admitting
that they financially supported a right-wing terrorist group, known as
AUC. Not only are none of the officials
going to prison, but the Justice Department has even allowed the names of the
officials to be kept secret from the federal court.
But an even more outrageous case is currently in federal
court. It is the immigration case of Luis Posada Carriles, an anti-Castro
terrorist who has been on the CIA payroll.
On October 6, 1976 Cubana Airlines Flight 455 crashed off
the coast of Barbados
killing all 73 people aboard. The 73 passengers and crew were victims of a
terrorist act. Most of the victims were Cubans, including the Cuban Olympic
fencing team, which was returning from a Venezuelan competition. Most of the
other passengers were Guyanese and North Koreans. Plastic explosives stuffed
into a toothpaste tube ignited the plane, according to declassified police
records. In a 1998 New York Times interview, Posada admitted to the attack.
But all was fine for the U.S.
until Posada allegedly illegally entered the U.S. in 2005. At the time of his
entry he was wanted in Venezuela
where he escaped from prison in 1985. He
was being held there for the Cubana bombing.
His presence in Miami
was well-known. Neither the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) nor the
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) made any effort to apprehend him. He was
finally arrested in May 2005 on immigration-related charges after holding a
well-attended press conference in Miami.
He was not charged with any acts of terrorism. He was not even handcuffed by
DHS officers in contrast to other terrorist suspects being chained and hooded
whenever they are moved.
In June 2005, Venezuela formally requested his
extradition. But the Bush administration
has refused to send him to Venezuela,
“a country acting on behalf of Cuba”
according to DHS, even though there is an extradition treaty between the U.S. and Venezuela. The Bush regime claims
that he would be tortured by the Venezuelans. (Right! We all know how much the Bush regime
abhors torture of accused terrorists.) Venezuela has
provided assurances that Posada would not be mistreated and it has submitted
numerous documents in support of the extradition request.
In January 2007, a federal grand jury indicted Posada
Carriles with one count of naturalization fraud and six counts of making false
statements in a naturalization proceeding. The Bush regime has repeatedly refused to try
him on terrorism charges, but for legal reasons related to the immigration case
the regime has had to admit he is a terrorist.
In legal pleadings filed in federal court the Justice Department
described him as “an unrepentant criminal and admitted mastermind of
terrorist plots and attacks on tourist sites.” In response to the government’s allegations,
his attorney Felipe Millan stated, “How can you call someone a terrorist
who allegedly committed acts on your behalf?”
After charges were brought, the Associated Press asked
Attorney General Gonzales whether Posada was a terrorist. Gonzales responded, “I am not going to
comment on whether we consider him (Posada) a terrorist.” Since when has the Bush regime been shy about
labeling people as terrorists? Posada has
even authored a book, “The Paths of the Warrior,” in which he boasts about some
of the terrorist acts he has organized.
I would suggest the Attorney General may wish to read it.
But this case poses a dilemma for the Bush regime as Posada
was a terrorist on the U.S.
payroll. Posada is a former C.I.A.
operative and U.S. Army officer. He was a terrorist under the employ of the U.S. government in its war against Cuba. In 1963
he enlisted in the U.S.
military and was recruited by the CIA where he received training in
demolitions.
He was terminated as a CIA “asset” in July 1967 and rehired
four months later. Several 1965 FBI memos relate his participation in a number
of plots involving sabotage and explosives. These plots include attempts to
blow up Soviet and Cuban ships in Mexico,
and the bombing of the Soviet library in Mexico
City. He was employed
by the CIA during this time until 1974.
According to released CIA documents he maintained contact with the CIA
until June 1976, just 3 months before the Cubana bombing. In 1976 he worked as
a senior official in the then U.S.
supported right-wing Venezuelan government in its intelligence agency, DISIP. Another
CIA document referred to Posada as a high-level official in charge of
demolitions at DISIP. This report noted that Posada had apparently transported
CIA explosives to Venezuela.
In a cable from the FBI Venezuelan bureau, Posada and
Orlando Bosch were identified as responsible for the plane’s destruction. (In
1990 Bosch, another anti-Castro “CIA asset,” was granted a pardon by President
George H. W. Bush, despite a Justice Department recommendation against doing so.
Bosch currently resides in Miami.)
One of the problems faced by the Bush regime is that
although when the Cubana plane was bombed Posada was no longer officially
working for the CIA, there are records that show that he may have informed the
CIA that a bomb was going to be set off on a plane before it occurred.
A memo dated June 22, 1976 was in the possession of the CIA.
The memo outlines plans by anti-Castro Cubans to bomb a Cubana Airlines flight.
This memo was in the CIA’s possession
months before the actual bombing. The
CIA which was then run by George Bush, Sr. did nothing to thwart the bombing or
to notify or warn the Cuban government or the airline. The U.S. government also had a report
in its hands before the bombing that states, “We [Posada and Bosch] are
going to hit a Cuban airplane. Orlando
has the details.” The CIA did
nothing about this report either, except to keep it classified for two decades.
(These and other revealing documents about U.S. government advance notice of
the bombing can be viewed at the National Security Archive website: (http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/)
According to Peter Kornbluh of the National Security Archive
at George Washington University,
“Luis Posada Carriles is a terrorist but he’s our terrorist. The
historical baggage that he brought with him when he sneaked into the U.S. has
created this dilemma for the Bush administration.”
In the most recent development, On April 19, 2007 Posada was
released from custody pending his May 11th trial on the immigration fraud
charges. Immigration authorities are not
holding Posada, though there is an outstanding order of deportation. According
to immigration officials as a condition of his release, Posada must search for
a country willing to take him.
I am sure the Bush regime would prefer that this case just
go away or maybe if they get lucky, Posada will “escape.” When the President justified the invasion of Afghanistan in
2001 he said, “If you harbor terrorists, you are a terrorist.” Now his regime is doing everything in its
power to ignore Posada’s terrorist past and his ties to the U.S.,
particularly the CIA. The only charges against Posada are immigration
violations. But as his lawyer said, when
someone commits acts on your behalf you can not call him a terrorist. That
would be hypocrisy. But then the Bush regime is very familiar with that term.