U.S. credibility suffers a blow
Re “A terrorist walks,” editorial, April 20
The release on bail of Cuban exile terrorist Luis Posada Carriles shows the United States’ hypocrisy in its war on terror. Posada has confessed that he had an active role in planting a bomb that killed 73 passengers on a Cuban airliner. He escaped from jail in 1985 while awaiting trial in Venezuela.
The U.S. should extradite him to Venezuela. The claim that Posada would face torture in Venezuela is ridiculous. Torture is prohibited under the new Venezuelan constitution, and the present government does not torture prisoners.
The U.S. sends a confusing message in its claims of fighting a war on terrorism when it allows a terrorist to walk out of jail. Posada should be punished for his crimes against humanity.
RICARDO MORENO
Claremont
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Your editorial on Posada being granted bail was right on the mark, save for one point. You state that releasing him undermines the moral authority of the White House.
After fabricated intelligence, Abu Ghraib, “extraordinary rendition,” repudiation of the Geneva Convention and indefinite detention without trial at Guantanamo Bay, how can you possibly believe this White House has any moral authority left to undermine?
LEE AYDELOTTE
Huntington Beach
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