A terrorist, an "authentically evil man," dies

[dann]

An authentically evil man, and an authentic terrorist if anyone ever was, died in a bed at the age of 90 on Wednesday. Luis Posada Carriles should have died in a cell at Leavenworth. He was an anti-Castro terrorist on the CIA payroll.
Thus Passed a True American-Made Terrorist: Luis Posada Carriles was a "CIA-created Frankenstein." (Esquire, May 23, 2018)

The U.S. 'War on Terror' was never a war on terror!

A terrorist walks - Luis Posada Carriles has boasted of bombing Havana hotels, yet American justice lets him go free (L.A. Times, Apr. 20, 2007)

 

[Brainster]

Interesting story. He does sound like a terrorist, but of course he was one of ours. I wonder how the LA Times felt about the release of Oscar Lopez Rivera. Oh, I don't have to wonder:

Some people call Puerto Rican nationalist Oscar Lopez Rivera a hero and a freedom fighter. Others call him a terrorist.

Note the balance there. Some people call him a great man. That balance is notably lacking in their piece on Posada. It is important to keep in mind here, that Posada was fighting against a brutal Cuban regime. Rivera, on the other hand was fighting against the presumably somewhat less brutal US government. Rivera's group definitely killed American citizens; Posada's did not:

One of the group's bombings took place in 1975 at New York's Fraunces Tavern, killing four people and injuring scores more.

Joseph F. Connor's dad, Frank, was one of those killed. It was four days after Connor's 9th birthday, which his parents had planned to celebrate that evening. His dad, who was 33, worked at J.P. Morgan and was having lunch with his colleague, who also died in the attack.

 

[phiwum]

Interesting story. He does sound like a terrorist, but of course he was one of ours. I wonder how the LA Times felt about the release of Oscar Lopez Rivera. Oh, I don't have to wonder:



Note the balance there. Some people call him a great man. That balance is notably lacking in their piece on Posada. It is important to keep in mind here, that Posada was fighting against a brutal Cuban regime. Rivera, on the other hand was fighting against the presumably somewhat less brutal US government. Rivera's group definitely killed American citizens; Posada's did not:

I'm not familiar with either of these persons, but does it matter that Rivera's group killed American citizens, whereas Posada's group didn't? Posada's group killed persons who weren't American, yes? So that matters less, or what?

Posada's group killed (allegedly) 73 persons on a Cuban plane, but not four American citizens, so you know, no biggie?

 

[Roger Ramjets]

Rivera's group definitely killed American citizens; Posada's did not:

Lopez Rivera was not charged in the Fraunces Tavern bombing but faced other charges including the interstate transportation of firearms with the intent to commit violent crimes. He was never convicted of hurting anyone and was never tied to specific bombings

The U.S. 'War on Terror' was never a war on terror!

Correct. It is actually a war on any threat to US hegemony.

The violence associated with the group makes it difficult for some observers to understand why a man who was convicted in 1981 of seditious conspiracy "to overthrow the government of the United States in Puerto Rico by force" would be praised.

It is important to keep in mind here, that Posada was fighting against a brutal Cuban regime godless communists.

But brutal Capitalist regimes are not a problem for us, and anyone who disagrees is a terrorist! (you are either with us or against us...").

 

[dann]

Correct. It is actually a war on any threat to US hegemony.

But brutal Capitalist regimes are not a problem for us, and anyone who disagrees is a terrorist! (you are either with us or against us...").

If Brainster actually knew anything at all about Cuba, she would know that the alleged brutality of the "brutal Cuban regime" is nowhere near as brutal as what you find in the USA.
This article about alleged police brutality in Cuba was an eye-opener for me. Not so much because of the article itself, but because it actually came with a link, i.e. documentation: a Youtube video of the incident.
And it was absurd! It appeared to be footage from a security camera at the corner of Avenida 23 and Malecon in Havana where a woman was told by two police officers (a man and a woman) not to interfere with their procedures but to stay quietly on a bench. (No sound, no back story.) But at one point the woman gets up and begins to yell at the female police officer before throwing her to the ground! (She's bigger than the police officer.) The other police officer and some bystanders pull the assailant off the officer and puts her (very gently, considering the circumstances) back on the bench, and in the meantime another bystander has picked up the female police officer's stick and handcuffs, which she lost when she was attacked. She then goes over to the woman who's being questioned and grabs her shoulder for about two seconds!! That's the allegeded police brutality. Nothing much happens after that. After a few minutes a police car arrives, and the woman gets into the backseat, unrestrained, uncuffed, and it drives off.
Unfortunately, the video has since been removed from Youtube, but the article claiming that it was "Showing Cuban Police Brutality" is still there ...

 

[Brainster]

I'm not familiar with either of these persons, but does it matter that Rivera's group killed American citizens, whereas Posada's group didn't? Posada's group killed persons who weren't American, yes? So that matters less, or what?

Posada's group killed (allegedly) 73 persons on a Cuban plane, but not four American citizens, so you know, no biggie?

At the time Posada was arrested he was accused of minor violations of immigration law, a crime for which he was found not guilty. The LA Times article describes him as a flight risk; his trial was almost four years later and obviously he showed up. He was not able to be extradited to either Cuba or Venezuela because judges here were convinced he would be tortured in either country.

I don't deny he's a terrorist or claim that you can't argue that the war on terror has not always been consistently applied. I mean, Barack Obama met with Martin McGuinness, as did George W. Bush.