Free Republic

Recently, reports have surfaced indicating that the Obama administration plans to revive efforts to ease the ban on travel to the communist dictatorship of Cuba. This is in keeping with the conventional leftist wisdom on Cuba, which holds that engagement is key to softening the attitude of the country’s despot, Fidel Castro. In fact, this fetish for engagement with Castro began before he was even in office: “Me and my staff were all Fidelistas.” (Robert Reynolds, the CIA’s “Caribbean Desk’s specialist on the Cuban Revolution” from 1957-1960.) “Everyone in the CIA and everyone at State was pro-Castro, except [Republican] Ambassador...

Some highlights from the Nonaligned Movement summit's final declaration. TERRORISM: Denounces the brutalization of peoples under foreign occupation as the gravest form of terrorism. Asks that terrorism not be associated with any religion, nationality or ethnic group and that it be recognized that the struggle of peoples under colonial or alien domination does not constitute terrorism. MIDEAST CONFLICTS: Strongly condemns "the relentless Israeli aggression launched against Lebanon." Promotes a revival of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Supports the Palestinian people's "inalienable right to self-determination in their independent and sovereign State of Palestine, with East Jerusalem as its capital." NUCLEAR IRAN: Defends...

President Fidel Castro called the U.S. airstrike that killed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi a "barbarity," saying he should have been put on trial. The United States acted as "judge and jury" against the leader of the al-Qaida in Iraq, Castro said late Friday. "They bragged, they were practically drunk with happiness." "The accused cannot just be eliminated," he told a literacy conference. "This barbarity cannot be done." The U.S. military has said al-Zarqawi initially survived the dropping of two 500-pound bombs on his hide-out Wednesday, but died a short time later. Castro said if Cuba used the same logic, it could...