Whether the Georgian Republic or Posada Carriles, Betraying Allies Is the New American Doctrine

Nothing is more dangerous in today's world than to be an ally of the United States. The president of Georgia has recently had occasion to see that for himself. It's not only that being a U.S. ally makes you a target for all its enemies; the resolute support of the U.S. could counter the worst effects of the enmity of America's enemies. The problem for America's allies is that being one is no longer a guarantee of its support. In fact, if a country wants to receive U.S. assistance and protection it is better to declare itself an enemy than prove itself a friend. Then, as in the case of Iraq, the U.S. will go to any lengths to safeguard its interests there. America knows how to forgive enemies (too readily perhaps) but has forgotten how to stand by its friends. I know of no word to describe such a tendency so I'll invent one: unreal politik.

It is not just nations that fall prey to this new U.S. doctrine of abandoning allies in their hour of need. Individuals are just as vulnerable when their usefulness to the U.S. has ceased. There is no more egregious an example of this than Luís Posada Carriles, the CIA-operative who fought America's battles and supported its interests in the world for nearly half a century. He is now, of course, the quarry of the world's biggest lynch mob, led by such upholders of justice as Fidel Castro and Hugo Chávez. No matter that Posada has been repeatedly tried and repeatedly exonerated of the same offense by different courts in the course of more than 30 years. The sentence that his enemies desire has yet to be obtained against him and they shall not cease in their efforts until they have buried the Rule of Law or Posada Carriles.

While Fidel Castro, who is responsible for the deaths of the 73 passengers on the Cubana de Aviación plane that was downed near Barbados in 1976 in addition to more than 100,000 other innocent victims of his tyrannic rule, enjoys a placid retirement with no final rendering of accounts in sight, Posada Carriles, whose only crime is to have fought against Castro on all fronts for 50 years, is targeted by every terrorist state in the hemisphere as its "Public Enemy #1." If it weren't tragic it would be risible.

The United States, also, has contributed its mite to his persecution by indicting him on immigration charges when he entered the U.S. in 2005. After a lifetime of serving the interests of this country on four continents the least that Posada Carriles had a right to expect at age 80 was to be allowed to live out his few remaining years here. Instead, he was arrested and incarcerated on trumped-up charges which 20 million illegal immigrants in this country could also be indicted for if it were politically expedient for the U.S. to do so.

At his first trial, District Court Judge Kathleen Cardone dismissed all counts against Posada because the government had engaged in "fraud, deceit and trickery" in prosecuting his case. "This court finds," wrote Cardone, "the government's tactics in this case are so grossly shocking and so outrageous as to violate the universal sense of justice." Now an appellate court has ruled that "neither of the grounds put forward by the district court -- grounds which have been loosely characterized as government deception and outrageous conduct -- supports the drastic remedy of dismissal of the indictment." Yes, the Appeals Court ruled that it is permissible for the government to practice deception and engage in outrageous conduct to secure an indictment, but the fact that it practiced deception and engaged in outrageous conduct is not sufficient grounds to dismiss the indictment.

We once said that Posada Carriles was living in a perpetual Groundhog Day. As in the movie, he is acquitted in the morning and wakes up the next day to find himself being tried again for the same offense. That appears to be his unhappy destiny and the wages of having served this country.

Tuesday, May 8, 2007

Absolved Again As His Enemies Never Will Be

There has probably been no man in history who has been subjected to more judicial persecution by the anti-democratic machinations of democratic states than Luís Posada Corrales. For two years, the Bush administration held Posada in what amounted to preventive detention for supposed "peligrosidad," in effect transforming its Constitution and laws into a copy of Castro's in order to visit Cuban "justice" on Posada without the necessity of extraditing him to Cuba. Two years in the life of an 80-year-old man is no little thing and their fraudulent legal maneuverings would have continued until they drove him into the grave except for the courage and integrity of one woman, District Court Judge Kathleen Cardone, who vindicated her country's noblest traditions by ending this shameless farce perpetrated by a mercenary Justice Department headed by a deceitful Attorney General and an even more deceitful president. '"Fraud, deceit and trickery'' is how Judge Cardone characterized the government's case in a startling indictment of the Bush administration by a judge appointed by George Bush.

We who have always believed in him and defended him unconditionally also feel vindicated today. But even if this day had never come and Posada had continued to be persecuted by his erstwhile allies our faith in him and the righteousness of his cause would remain unshaken.

This is not the end. The government will continue through other means its persecution of Posada. In his case, we know that double jeopardy means nothing and that he is likely to be re-tried again under other guises for crimes of which he has long been acquitted. As I observed on another post, Posada is trapped in a judicial Groundhog Day, and no matter how many times he is proven innocent he is doomed to relive this nightmare forever. True and selfless patriot that he is, Posada will continue to uphold our national honor and preserve the legacy of the great heroes of our struggles for independence. We are fortunate indeed to have among us a man whose life and deeds mirror those of our epic liberators. Let us judge ourselves by his example and decide whether we too have done everything that we could to advance the cause of liberty in our country and of human dignity for all men.