Re:US removes Cuba from list of state sponsors of terror
by netcan on Friday May 29, 2015 @01:30PM
(#9625992)
When everyone can be on the list, it becomes a lie to single out one party. It's like in the Soviet republics where 100% of the population was breaking laws all the time just to live. Police could then just go and arrest anyone arbitrarily, with 100% confidence they would make something stick.
Same here. There are lots of terrorist supporting states. The ones one the list are the ones that are US enemies. Cuba's place on the list is "political^" in that sense. Yes, they sponsored terrorism. Yes, that provides justification for inclusion according to the rules of the list. But no, sponsoring terrorism is not why they were included on the list. They were included for being enemies of the US and its allies.
^I wouldn't even call it political, unless you'd also call an invasion or declaration of war political in the same circumstances.
Re:US removes Cuba from list of state sponsors of terror
by lx on Friday May 29, 2015 @01:19PM
(#9625892)
I won't argue either... It seems I misunderstood your first comment. Sorry.
Just for the sake of clarification, regarding ETA I'm aware there several versions of the story, but those 2010-ish US terrorism reports are not understandable when the very Spanish government was stating the contrary [+]. About the Colombian conflict, I've heard of the Cuban support to National Liberation Army (ELN) but never of any military support to Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
[+] (Spanish) http://www.lavozlibre.com/noticias/ampliar/1041341/moratinos...
(I won't argue against the position that the US was doing much the same thing on the other side of the same geopolitical conflict so that the "terrorist" label was always somewhat misrepresenting the purpose of the list -- and not just Cuba's inclusion on it -- or that the initial premise of the inclusion had long ceased to be relevant. I won't even argue against the position that some of the groups Cuba backed that justified its inclusion on the list were no worse -- and perhaps even less terroristic -- all things considered, than the often US-backed entities they opposed.)