I don’t like communists and I never have. But I also don’t like how Presidents from Eisenhower to Poppy Bush used the threat of communism/narcotics to stomp on the balls of any latin movement that wasn’t rabidly pro-business. It’s pretty hard to tell Americans today that Nicaragua was a grave threat to our National Security and that we armed the contras to help stop the commies and win the war on drugs. So, I find the following highly amusing in a “see!?? jackass!!” kind of way.
Oliver North and Daniel Ortega, antagonists in the 1980s Iran-Contra Affair, are battling again, this time over Ortega’s bid to regain the presidency in Nicaragua’s elections on Nov. 5.
Ortega, a leader of the Sandinista revolution who ruled Nicaragua from 1979 to 1990, held a 15-point lead over his nearest rival in an Oct. 20 poll by Zogby International. North, a retired U.S. Marine Corps lieutenant colonel who ran an illegal program funding rebels seeking to topple Ortega, flew to Nicaragua last week to support his opponents.
The prospect of a second Ortega presidency is alarming U.S. officials. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, former Assistant Secretary of State Roger Noriega and Representative Peter Hoekstra, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, all have spoken out against Ortega’s candidacy.
“The degree of visceral reaction and anger with Ortega is still very, very high among some in Washington,” said Peter Hakim, president of the Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue, a policy research group.
A return to power by Ortega, an ally of Cuba’s Fidel Castro, threatens to extend the influence of Hugo Chavez, Venezuela’s anti-American president, said Representative Dan Burton, chairman of a committee overseeing U.S. relations with Latin America.
“Ortega has no scruples — he’s a communist,” Burton, an Indiana Republican, said in an interview. “He could be a destabilizing force for all the new democracies we see in Central America.”
I would just like to note for the record that Reagan’s foreign policy is not looking so hot anymore. We are not back pumping oil in Libya and Qaddafi is still there mocking our dead. His buddy Saddam caused problems which have been a bit messy to clean up. His mujahideen turned into the Taliban and al-Qaeda and killed 3,000 innocent American civilians. The Contras are still thuggish drug dealers, and the Sandanista’s leader is about to be elected President of Nicaragua. Maybe Reagan shouldn’t have been quite so bellicose? Maybe a little more selective about who to make our ally…and give arms and terrosism training to? Maybe?
Oh, and the Star Wars stuff…still not working.
Good for Ollie North though. It’s always good to see him enjoying his freedom.
