Luis Posada Carriles Nears Release

Luis Posada Carriles, the anti-Castro Cuban terrorist who blew up a commercial airplane in 1976 that carried 73 innocent people, is inching ever closer to being released from federal detention. On September 11, U.S. Magistrate Norbert Garney, who earlier ruled that Posada could not be extradited to Cuba or Venezuela because of the possibility he would be tortured, recommended releasing Posada if the U.S. cannot find another country willing to offer him asylum. The Judge initially set a September 22nd deadline for the U.S. government to respond to his recommendation, but extended the deadline to October 5th at the Bush administration’s request. If the recommendation stands, it would go to a federal district judge for approval.

Although it is heartening that the government’s motion to extend the deadline described Posada as “an admitted terrorist with a history of involvement in terrorist activities” whose release could have “significant national and foreign relations consequences,” it remains to be seen how actively they will oppose his release. As I explained in detail in a previous post, the Bush adminstration’s track record regarding Posada is unimpressive, to say the least — the result, no doubt, of Posada’s long history of involvement with the CIA. (He was on the CIA’s payroll from 1965 to 1976, usually training paramilitary forces, and shipped arms and supplies to the Contras during the Iran-Contra era.)

On September 9, Bush declared: “After 9/11, I set forth a new doctrine: Nations that harbor or support terrorists are equally guilty as the terrorists, and will be held to account.” Posada’s case is compelling test of whether Bush means what he says — or whether, as is so often the case, his words are nothing more than empty rhetoric.