A Good Start

I’ve written in earlier posts about the “We are the world” concept of the United States. This attitude of American exceptionalism can be found in many areas of our geopolitical stances. One of the great examples of this position has been the United States’ harboring of Luis Posada Carriles. He is a former CIA operative who has been accused by both Cuba and Venezuela of participating in the bombing of a Cuban airliner which killed seventy-three souls back in 1976.

Yet for years, Mr. Carriles has been living under our protection in Florida. For years, we have rejected the Latin American countries’ cries for his extradition.
But just look at what Bush said a few years ago: “If you harbor terrorists, you are a terrorist.” He used these words to justify the Afghanistan incursion. This was our excuse to bomb Afghanistan with impunity. We bomb Pakistan for the same reason. Think about it, we are killing innocent people in the name of that country being determined a terrorist state because of their harboring those we accuse of being terrorists.

Now think about Cuba or Venezuela creating their own “Manifesto” with the exact same words. They could then bomb Florida with impunity because we are harboring someone they consider to be a terrorist, since of course their newly created manifesto says we are now a “terrorist country” for harboring Mr. Carriles.

What I’m saying, of course, is patently absurd. Neither country would do such a thing. But that is exactly the point. The United States is so into its exceptionalist attitude that it cannot even conceive that another country would dare to attack us even for the exact same reasons we are bombing Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The good news is that, according to Thursday’s telecast of “Democracy Now!” Mr. Carriles has been indicted on charges of lying about his role in several 1997 bombings at tourist areas in Cuba. This is a positive step in moving away from our exceptionalism attitude.

We need to respect other countries’ positions on the world stage, and treat them as equals. If they determine that someone in the United States is suspected of terrorist activities, we should honor their position and investigate thoroughly. We should have that suspect extradited just as we would want that country to extradite someone we believe should be brought to trial on terrorist activities. We should not be the 800 pound gorilla in the (world) room, doing whatever we want at the expense of other countries and disregarding their rights to justice and equality.