WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY?

By MANUEL CEREIJO

The war with Iraq was necessary to create a base for democracy and stability in the Middle East. It had nothing to do, directly, with Al-Queda, but it had to do with the whole Arabic region, and with the concepts and principles of freedom, stability, and peace for that region of the world. It had to do with the asymmetric terrorist war, with the fight for freedom in the world. With the concept that a democracy will never be a terrorist government.

A totalitarian dictator was removed from government, after more than 20 years in power, and the destabilization for the entire region that his regime represented was eliminated. Oppression , killing of innocent people, fear, political prisoners, all were terminated.

Now, we have Cuba. A totalitarian dictator for over 46 years. The destabilization force in the Western Hemisphere. Subversion in all Latin America. Alliance now with Venezuela, to take control over Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and the whole South America countries. A terrorist nation, with close ties with Iran, North Korea, China, as it had previously with Iraq. We have here the same concepts of freedom, liberty, a terrorist government, which has invaded and subvert more countries that Iraq ever did. A government that in 1962 tried to force the Soviet Union to launch a nuclear attack against the United States.

Castro's Cuba is a prime example of a nation developing such unconventional or asymmetric methods of challenging or threatening the United States. In a letter to Secretary Cohen, dated March 31, 1998, then Speaker of the House of Representatives Newt Gingrich, wrote: "I am very concerned about recent reports indicating that Castro's secretive network of sophisticated biological and genetic research labs are being used by the military and Interior Ministry to develop biological weapons."

On the March 31, 1998 edition, the Washington Post addressed the topic of the threat from Cuba, partially stating “Cuba has one of the most sophisticated biotech and pharmaceutical industries in the hemisphere. Because lethal biological materials can be produced by countries with biotech industries, it is difficult to determine when a country moves from simply having the capability to produce deadly viruses, to the intent or plans to do so."

Given Castro's proven instability, ongoing anti-Americanism, and proximity to the U.S., it would be an unacceptable mistake to underestimate his capabilities or his intentions. A report submitted by the U.S. Office of Technological Assessment in late 1995 identified seventeen countries believed to possess biological weapons- Lybia, North Korea, South Korea, Iraq, Taiwan, Syria, Israel, Iran, China, Egypt, Vietnam, Laos, Bulgaria, India, South Africa, Russia, and Cuba. In an appearance before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, January, 1998, Louis J. Freeh, Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation, stated "State sponsors of terrorism include Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Libya, North Korea and Cuba."

Castro has been in absolute power in Cuba for the last 46 years. Hussein much less than that. The Cuban people have been terrorized, jailed, shot, confiscated their properties. There is no freedom of any type or kind whatsoever.

Castro has intervened, assisted, invaded, or provided logistic and armaments to groups, terrorists, and organizations throughout the world: Africa, South America, Central America, North America and Asia. Cuba serves as a sanctuary to hundreds of criminals, terrorists, from diverse parts of the world. Cuba has provided, and still does, military training to thousands of persons who later on have returned to their respective countries to try to overthrow their legitimate governments.

Castro has expressed in innumerable occasions, in public and private appearances, nationally and in foreign countries his hate towards the United States, its way of live, its political system, its economic system.

There are three nations that use intensively their intelligence services to harm the interests of the United States. The nations are: PRC, Cuba, and North Korea. These nations continue to expend significant resources to conduct intelligence operations against the United States.

Each one of these countries has the ability to collect intelligence on targeted U.S. activities using HUMINT, SIGINT, and the analysis of open source material. Also, Cuba, through China, have access to imagery products that can be used to produce IMINT.

We are involved in World War III. It started on 9/11/2001. A different war than any previous one. Asymmetric, terrorist battles, weapons of mass destruction, targeting civilians, innocent people. A war of civilization versus barbarism.

However, since when was it planned?

It all started in an Island in the Caribbean, Cuba. The First Tri Continental Congress, 1966. How?

NACLA was formed in 1967 after the Tricontinental Congress in Havana by individuals associated with Students for a Democratic Society(SDS). NACLA said it was recruiting "men and women, from a variety of organizations and movements, who not only favor revolutionary change in Latin America, but also take a revolutionary position toward their own society." SDS leaders called NACLA the "intelligence gathering arm" of the radical movement. NACLA's published Methodology Guide recommends supplementing public source information by pretext interviews and phone calls, and NACLA has also planted or developed covert sources in government agencies and private companies. Over the years, NACLA materials have been used in a number of anti-U.S., Cuban publications.

Particular targets for NACLA information-gathering include companies supplying arms, anti-terrorist and police equipment to Latin America and Mexico; U.S. government defense, counter-insurgent and anti-terrorist programs; and oil, agribusiness, minerals and other U.S. companies with major Latin American operations.

NACLA veterans have included Michael Klare, head of IPS's Militarism and Disarmament Project and specialist on U.S. arms sales policies, anti-terrorist and counter-insurgency programs who lectures on such subjects at the University of Havana; and Michael Locker, head of the Corporate Data Exchange(CDE) that is funded by the Samuel Rubin Foundation via the Weiss's Fund for Tomorrow. Locker is also on the staff of the Cuba Resource Center, Inc., a non-profit, Tax-Exempt pro-Castro corporation in New York City.

In the British edition of Inside the Company: CIA Diary, CIA-turncoat Philip Agee, acknowledged that agencies of the Cuban government and representatives of the Cuban Communist Party provided "special assistance *** and ***data available only from government documentation" and that "John Gerassi, Nicki Szulc and Michael Locker of the North American Congress for Latin America(NACLA) obtained vital research materials in New York and Washington, DC." Locker's name was deleted from the U.S. edition.

If we can consider destabilizing Iran, we should consider destabilizing Cuba. Cuba is a damaged society and would take years to recover to a point where it would contribute more than emigrants to the Caribbean region, but that's a reason to start the process ASAP. Just as the Middle East will be a better place with a democratic Iraq and Iran, so the Americas would be better without a dysfunctional communist kleptocracy led by a senile thug. President Bush may have more important things on his mind, and our foreign-policy bureaucracy and think tanks may have given up on Cuba long ago, but perhaps it's time to reconsider our tacit policy of non-intervention.

The United States is now the target of those who want to challenge the existing state of affairs. Security threats, in this new era of asymmetric warfare, will inevitable emerge more and more frequently.

Cuba, due to its proximity to the United States, its electronic espionage facilities, and the constant flow of people between the United States and Cuba, has served as a Center for Logistics for all terrorist groups and nations.

Iraq represented a threat to the stability of the Middle East, and to the security of the United States, much less severe than the threat that Cuba represents to the stability of Latin America and the security of the United States.

The government of Cuba must be overthrown. A window of opportunity or a NECESSITY for the security of the United States?


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