Thread: Venezuela Sponsoring Terrorism?

washingtonpost.com

THE CONFIRMATION by an international forensics team that laptops and hard drives captured by Colombia originated in a camp of FARC terrorists ought to open a new era in relations between the democratic world and Hugo Chávez's Venezuelan government. Whether it does will depend to a large extent on how Colombia and the United States handle a rich but tricky diplomatic opportunity.

Another area we have to keep a watch on?

oh my gosh they would LOOOVE to connect some "al qaeda" to venenuela....

then we can go liberate the Venezuelans and also fight for our freedom.

Originally Posted by groupthink

oh my gosh they would LOOOVE to connect some "al qaeda" to venenuela....

then we can go liberate the Venezuelans and also fight for our freedom.

What? This has nothing to do with Al Qaeda or invading Venezuela.

Originally Posted by Speakeasy

What? This has nothing to do with Al Qaeda or invading Venezuela.

Some in Congress are already calling for Venezuela to be placed on the State Department's list of state sponsors of terrorism.

washingtonpost.com

since when does their need to be any real connection to al qaeda for the claims to be made..

remember when cheney said

vote against Lieberman is a vote for Al Queda?

Did Cheney Go Too Far?

anything can and will be linked to al qaeda ....

Originally Posted by jviehe

Another area we have to keep a watch on?

We should definitely watch the situtuation and I hope the CIA is...

But we don't need to be alarmist in the sense that we would add Venezuela to the Axis of Evil list.

The more we look under rocks, the more that we will find that many countries have some tie or connection to various terrorist groups. After all, we've covertely allied ourselves in the past with "rebel" groups that would perhaps be considered terrorist organizations in today's climate. We need to be careful not to cast a bunch of countries all as enemies with whom we no longer speak, trade, or deal.

Any pressure put on them should be through private channels and not public sabre rattling.

Originally Posted by groupthink

washingtonpost.com

since when does their need to be any real connection to al qaeda for the claims to be made..

remember when cheney said

Did Cheney Go Too Far?

anything can and will be linked to al qaeda ....

That isnt what Cheney said. Post his exact quote.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/relea...0060809-2.html

Originally Posted by TheLastBoyScout

We should definitely watch the situtuation and I hope the CIA is...

But we don't need to be alarmist in the sense that we would add Venezuela to the Axis of Evil list.

The more we look under rocks, the more that we will find that many countries have some tie or connection to various terrorist groups. We need to be careful not to cast them all as enemies with whom we no longer speak, trade, or deal.

Any pressure put on them should be through private channels and not public sabre rattling.

Im not sure that would be alarmist, just a statement of fact. Either they are or arent state sponsors of terrorism and if they are, we should not be trading with them. That goes for any country. Its not just some tie, or connection, but aiding and abetting enemies of the US or our allies. In this case, if the facts are correct, the govt of Venezuela is funding, training, and providing safety for a terrorist group, their President having direct knowledge.

shouldnt make any differance, we trained and funded almost all "islamo-fascists" .. not to mention our dedication to israel. and the THOUSANDS of international crimes they commit every year.

Originally Posted by groupthink

shouldnt make any differance, we trained and funded almost all "islamo-fascists" .. not to mention our dedication to israel. and the THOUSANDS of international crimes they commit every year.

Two wrongs don't make a right. It's wrong when the US does it and it is wrong if Venezuela does it.

If it turns out that Chavez is actively aiding and abetting the FARC (having ties/relations does not automatically equal actively helping), then he has some shit to answer for.

I, for one, hope that it is not true, and I wouldn't put it past Uribe/Bush & Co. to cook up some bullshit to make Chavez look like a "terrorist"* supporter.



*I put terrorist in inverted commas not because I don't think that the FARC fit the general criteria for being considered terrorists, but because it is a meaningless arbitrarily assigned moniker that I would gladly see discarded.

Originally Posted by jviehe

Im not sure that would be alarmist, just a statement of fact. Either they are or arent state sponsors of terrorism and if they are, we should not be trading with them. That goes for any country. Its not just some tie, or connection, but aiding and abetting enemies of the US or our allies. In this case, if the facts are correct, the govt of Venezuela is funding, training, and providing safety for a terrorist group, their President having direct knowledge.

Well, If we want to have Bush stand up and wag his finger at Venezuela, what are we really prepared to do about it?

Perhaps we should figure out what our course of action would be first.

If we aren't prepared to do something about it, we should keep our F'ing yap shut. It would only amount to an empty threat, sabre rattling, aimless bitching, or any combination therein.