An Editorial that poses the question......

[RightIsWrong]

Terrorism? They pay really good lip service to the fact that other countries are "either with us or with the terrorists" in the fight against terrorism.

With that being said, is the administration with the terrorists? After all, refusing to extradite a known terrorist to the country that is trying to prosecute him should be an easy decision, right? Not if you are in the Bush administration and politics is more important than you actually backing up what you say.

Source

Editorial: Give up Posada / The U.S. should oppose all accused terrorists

Friday, June 17, 2005

When does someone accused of having planned and organized the bombing of a civilian aircraft, killing all 73 passengers, become a person whom the United States should protect?

Is such a person not, in fact, exactly the sort of terrorist America is waging war against around the world? That is the question raised by the treatment the Justice Department, under the leadership of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is giving Venezuelan Luis Posada Carriles.

In 1976 a Cubana Airways DC-8 exploded over the Caribbean near Barbados, killing all 73 passengers -- Cubans, Guyanese and Koreans -- aboard. Mr. Posada was accused of having planned and organized the attack and imprisoned in Venezuela. He escaped in 1985 and disappeared, only to turn up in the United States in March of this year.

U.S. authorities finally got around to arresting him in mid-May, on immigration charges. He is now requesting political asylum in the United States.

Venezuela has filed an official extradition request to gain custody of Mr. Posada and return him to Venezuela for trial. The Gonzalez Justice Department has dragged its feet on the case, maintaining that the initial Venezuelan request for custody was not filed correctly. The Venezuelans filed a new, formal request this week. A 1922 extradition treaty between the two countries requires the United States to hand the Venezuelan fugitive over.

This case should be straight up and down. Luis Posada Carriles is accused, with convincing evidence, of having blown up an airplane: Send him back to Venezuela. It seems obvious.

Then, however, add Florida, Republican and Cuban-exile politics to the brew. Mr. Posada had close CIA ties. No one has yet said whether, in fact, the CIA employed him to organize the bombing of the Cuban airliner. The CIA did know about his plan in advance. Second, he is a hero to the Florida Cuban-exile community, which has provided campaign money and voted consistently for Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and his presidential brother. Add another piece, the fact that the Bush administration does not like either Fidel Castro, the president of Cuba, whose aircraft was downed, or Hugo Chavez, the president of Venezuela, whose courts had sought to put Mr. Posada on trial long before Mr. Chavez became president.

Given the U.S. political elements in the case, the position of Mr. Gonzalez, which presumably reflects that of President Bush, becomes clear, although not justifiable. Luis Posada Carriles is in the custody of a country that not only says it respects the rule of law but also is engaged in a worldwide struggle against terrorism.

Venezuela's request for his extradition should receive an immediate, positive response from the United States. American politics should have no role in determining the fate of this accused terrorist. Put him on the next plane.

 

[jimkyser]

He's not a terrorist, he's a freedom fighter!