In My Opinion: A
U.S. creation or not, don't call Posada a soldier
Jim Defede,
Miami Herald
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.
