Argentina documents
Mike Allison pointed out the fact that the U.S. Congress voted not to declassify documents related to the 1976-1983 dictatorship in Argentina. We know that this decision is based on the fact that they show explicitly how the U.S. government lavished praise on brutal tyrants and essentially said torture was fine while hypocritically talking in public about democracy. Check out the National Security Archive for some declassified State Department documents on Argentina.
However, people can't say that, so instead the argument is that it would distract U.S. spies from from the fight against Al Qaeda. The debate hasn't been published yet in the Congressional Record, so I will have to wait to see if anyone offered anything else, but I do have to say that such an argument makes absolutely no sense at all.
2 comments:
This would be humerous, if it weren't so tragically part of the normal DNA when it comes to the US government and support for anti-democratic, human rights abuses against people in Latin America
You need to 'balance' this derision of US hypocrisy and cynicism with some of your, predictable, hate-on-Castro, or Chavez.
Remember--tenure review board?....
These solid citizens and academics don't take anti-Americanism lightly.
Didn't Correa recently try to disparage evidence that he took funds from the communist FARC terrorist group? This was solidly 'proven' with the documents retrieved from the computer lap-top of a terrorist killed in Ecuadoran territory. (As if I have to remind you of the particulars of this case.)
And, Greg, what kind of communist, anti-American conspiracies have Evo and Hugo been up to lately? How does Mel (the would-be 'dictator for life" and oppressor of Honduran democracy) fit into the FARC lap-top case?
Please, bro, you aren't doing your duty to the empire when you cast aspirations at the goals and attitudes that prevail in your country.
Are you 'anti-American'?
The Drudge Report would reallly like to make public the degree to which you are inclined to undermine freedom in your quest to assuage the terror-loving left of Latin American--and the tenure review board would certainly be all ears...
LOL
I suspect the actual record is a bit more mixed than Greg suggests. Its no secret the Henry Kissinger didn't have a big problem with what the military dictatorship started but I suspect Carter's State Department was a good deal less praiseworthy. While Reagan's State Dept probably wasn't overly concerned with dictators in Latin America, the Argentines were quite peeved over the US backing if Britain in the Falklands War. I don't think the US had much impact on the outcome of that conflict but the Argentines did, so my guess is thing weren't hunky dory between the Reagan crowd and the junta in power in 1982 and 1983.
So, while I think the overall record will be nuanced, why release it just to give succor to fanatics like "Slave Revolt" or as a gift to the chavista "media" who will cherry pick things to support their anti-American propoganda. More importantly, why give Christina Kircher more ammo to bash the US as an election tactic. It seems a real stretch that US diplomatic cables would tell very much about stolen babies, so that strikes me as a fig leaf justification for demanding their release.
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