Posted
on Tue, Jul. 26, 2005
In My Opinion
Miami
Herald
A U.S. creation or not, don't call Posada
a soldier
Sometimes you hear something and you say to yourself,
``He didn't just say that, did he?''
Thursday, I had one of those moments sitting alongside
Eduardo Soto, the attorney for Luis Posada Carriles,
taping a segment for Sunday's This Week in South
Florida.
Soto was arguing that Posada was a patriot and not
a terrorist. Soto was trying to downplay his client's
confession that he was behind a series of hotel
bombings in Havana in 1997 that killed an Italian
tourist.
The host of the show, Michael Putney, noted that
Posada had bragged about the bombings to a New York
Times reporter in 1998.
Soto wasn't crazy about the suggestion that his
client had been ''bragging'' about the bombings.
'I don't know if the term, or the adjective or adverb
`bragging' is really well placed,'' Soto said. ``He
is alleged to have made a statement to a New York
Times reporter.''
This is Posada's latest tactic. Since The New York
Times won't turn over the tapes of its interviews
with Posada to federal authorities, Soto is arguing
that Posada's published confession is meaningless.
''Is he denying that he gave those interviews?''
I asked. ``Are you saying The New York Times fabricated
these interviews?''
''No, that is not what I am saying,'' Soto replied.
''Do you dispute the fact that [The New York Times]
spoke to Mr. Posada?'' Putney asked.
''I don't really want to get into whether I dispute
it,'' Soto responded.
`PUT HIS LIFE ON THE LINE'
Soto then sought to change the subject and started
praising Posada's patriotism.
''My client has been a soldier of the United States
for 40 years, whether he is officially or unofficially
today on the payroll,'' Soto said. ``My client absolutely
loves the United States. My client is enamored of
the principles of this country. My client put his
life on the line on numerous occasions for the red,
white and blue. A lot of the people out there perceive
this or look at this as him being a simple terrorist,
a bad guy and he should go to hell for it. Excuse
the bad word. But the bottom line is my client is
a product of this country. He was trained at Fort
Benning in 1963. He has served in the Central Intelligence
Agency. He was in El Salvador in the mid-'80s.''
I suggested it sounded as if Soto was admitting
his client was responsible for the bombings.
''I won't get into whether he admits to it,'' Soto
said, ``but I will say this to you: We have boys
that have lost their lives in Iraq, to the tune
of about 1,500 over the last 18 months, and some
of those boys, before they died, also took the lives
of other boys, someone else's sons. Whether or not
you believe in what we are doing in Iraq, they are
still U.S. soldiers. . . . ''
''Please
don't tell me you are comparing Posada to U.S. soldiers
in Iraq,'' I interrupted.
''You know what, I am, I am,'' Soto exclaimed. ``Luis
Posada Carriles is a man who is at the vanguard
of a point of view that many people in this country
believe in.''
AN INSULTING COMPARISON
It wasn't until I watched the show on Sunday that
I did believe what I was hearing.
Posada was being equated to the men and women in
uniform serving and dying in a war zone.
No matter what you may think about the war in Iraq,
it is outrageous and insulting to compare American
soldiers to a man who boasted of paying people to
secretly plant bombs in hotels and restaurants that
cater to innocent civilians.
Is Posada, as his attorney claimed, a product of
this country?
Now that's an interesting question.
Is he the creation of an American foreign policy
that for decades was built on muscle and arrogance,
an America where the ends justify the means?
Posada may well be that bastard child. But he is
not a hero. He does not represent what is good and
strong and admirable about this country, but rather
what can go wrong with it.
He is a cautionary tale. An aberration. And a reminder
of the evil that lurks within each of us and must
be suppressed with vigilance.
