Who's the bigger bastard, Castro or Pinochet?

[Az]

Why, of course.

[chequita guevara]

It's not like Mossad never messes around in Latin America. Hell, the IDF trained Guatemalan officers when the U.S. was forbidden to do so by Congress (at a time when the leaders of Guatemala believed there was a world wide Jewish conspiracy to destroy capitalism).

[Az]

So why did they release him?

at a time when the leaders of Guatemala believed there was a world wide Jewish conspiracy to destroy capitalism

This makes sense.

[St Leo]

The usual procedure is to expel spies if they have a foreign citizenship.

Anyways, Castro is bad, but Pinochet was extremely bad. Any government that does not give people a say is obviously reprehensible and neither of the two regimes did or does.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Azazel

at a time when the leaders of Guatemala believed there was a world wide Jewish conspiracy to destroy capitalism

This makes sense.

When the U.S. can't get involved directly, Israel will sometimes do our dirty work. Remember, this was when you were selling weapons to Iran, a sworn enemy, on our behalf.

[TCO]

I misvoted. Subtract a pinochet vote

[Az]

When the U.S. can't get involved directly, Israel will sometimes do our dirty work. Remember, this was when you were selling weapons to Iran, a sworn enemy, on our behalf.

Erm, what time was that, again?

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by St Leo
Any government that does not give people a say is obviously reprehensible and neither of the two regimes did or does.

The Cuban people have quite a bit of say in their government. They may not be able to choose between parties, but they don't have to vote for Communists at the lower levels and theycan choose among them at higher levels. Granted, that's not what we call free government, but it is a say.

On top of that, Castro personally goes around and holds meetings with large bodies of people in Cuba, listening to their problems and then directing resources to take care of them. In this sense, he is very much in line with the old Latin American caudillos, or strong men.

This is one of the secrets to Castro's popularity. People blame the government for problems, but know that when Castro hears about them, he'll fix things right up. Of course, since resources are limited, as Castro goes from place to place, eventually resources promised to one place must be pulled away to fix some new promise Castro has made, and the government, not Castro, gets the blame.

So the Cuban people actually do have input, considerably more than most people imagine.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Azazel

When the U.S. can't get involved directly, Israel will sometimes do our dirty work. Remember, this was when you were selling weapons to Iran, a sworn enemy, on our behalf.

Erm, what time was that, again?

That would be the whole Iran-Contra scandal back in the early 1980s. We sold weapons to Israel, who then turned around and sold them to Iran, because we couldn't directly sell to Iran.

[Az]

Yes, I remembered it just as I hit the 'send' button. What was the reason the US wanted to sell weapons to Iran? I didn't understand this.

[TCO]

Originally posted by Azazel
Yes, I remembered it just as I hit the 'send' button. What was the reason the US wanted to sell weapons to Iran? I didn't understand this.

Trying to get back the hostages that the Bekaa valley terrorists had captured.

[Az]

Ahh, I am reading the report as we speak.



what a moronic plan...

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by TCO
Trying to get back the hostages that the Bekaa valley terrorists had captured.

There were three reasons. This was the first reason.

2) to try and ensure a stalemate between Iran and Iraq. The U.S. aided both sides so that neither side would win.

3) To generate some unaccounted revenue that could then be shunted illegally to the Contras, without the Treasury or Congress knowing about it. This is why people went to jail (though they were ultimately pardoned).

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Azazel
what a moronic plan...

It did get some hostages released. But then more would just be taken.

[Az]

I just read a report. It seems that not all of them were released.

In any case, I think the president should be impeached for such a thing.

Stupid stupid stupid. As to the involvement of our leadership, it seems as if, this wasn't something that could actually threaten Israel's security, yet is very idiotic, too.