When is a terrorist not a terrorist?
When he’s our terrorist.
Luis Posada Carriles, a former CIA operative, is wanted in Venezuela for bombing a Cuban airliner in 1976, in which 73 people were killed. Posada Carriles has also boasted of being responsible for a series of bomb attacks on Havana tourist spots in the 1990s. He’s reportedly in the United States seeking asylum, which will put the nominally anti-terrorist Bush administration in a bit of a spot.
If the right-wing political hacks in the Bush administration had any shame or conscience at all, they’d comply with our extradition treaty with Venezuela and send this terrorist to be tried in a court of law. Or, the fact that he’s anti-Castro might get him a Get Out of Jail Free card from the White House. Hell, if Jeb Bush needed votes Posada might even get a pardon.
Perhaps they actually do feel embarrassment, though: State Department official Roger Noriega claims the Bush administration doesn’t know for sure if Posada is in the United States. Uh huh.