Yesterday marked the 30th anniversary of the tragic midair bombing of Cubana Flight 455 that killed all 73 passengers on board the aircraft. There can be no doubt this was an act of terrorism and those involved should be brought to justice. The unfortunate part is that not only does the Bush administration KNOW who committed this terrorist act they also have him in custody and REFUSE to extradite him to stand trial and be brought to justice.
Luis Posada Carriles was an anti-Castro, Cuban CIA agent of
operational interest throughout the 60's and was originally trained for the Bay of Pigs invasion - including basic demolition skills. The CIA's own
declassified report show that Carriles was the mastermind behind the bombing. He was subsequently jailed in Venezuela for his actions in the bombing but escaped in 1985.
In early 2005 he snuck into the US via Miami and sought political asylum. He was subsequently arrested for immigration violations but has not been labeled a terrorist and the Bush administration has stalled extradition requests from Venezuela and Cuba for over a year. This administration has been frantically looking for some other country to extradite him to but there are no takers.
Recently, a federal magistrate has ruled that the Justice Department must put him on trial, label him a terrorist, or set him free. To date, Alberto Gonzalez and the Justice Department have done none of the above. Perhaps the President and the Attorney General would be wise to listen to their own statements - "if you harbor terrorists, you are just as guilty as the terrorists."
Ask yourself how you might feel if Venezuela and/or Cuba were blatantly harboring a know 9/11 mastermind and refusing to extradite him to the US while simultaneously refusing to make him stand trial. The President and the Attorney General should immediately extradite Carriles for perpetrating the worst act of terrorism ever committed in Latin America and end their hypocrisy in the war on terror.