(As author and sole owner of the words in this story, I did not write them for AOL, and do not wish to have any association with it imposed upon me. The original text may still be found at http://narconews.com/thefield - Al Giordano, February 7, 2011)
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"where the coup plotters deposit so many of the dollars that they've looted from the majority of Hondurans,"
That a), there was, in fact a coup, rather than a legal action. Please cite the Honduran constitution.
"Diplomacy is for dealing with legitimate governments, not for criminals and terrorists.
That b), the interim government is composed of "criminals and terrorists". Please cite evidence, arrest records, etc.
Lanny Davis isn't good at predicting the future. Therefore he is "always wrong". Since he is "always wrong", he is not capable of being right with respect to current or past events.
Let's see. Who else is bad at predicting the future? Barack Obama. Hillary Clinton. Joe Biden. Bad at predicting the economy, stimulus success, jobless rates, their own security policies once elected, his own political popularity even within their own party, etc, etc, etc.
Maybe we need to do the OPPOSITE of what our current government says since they seem to be getting everything so incredibly wrong and, like Lanny Davis, are so terribly bad at predicting the future.
Show me a coup please.
it seems to me your own provided link rebukes your claim that "IRI does not fund any groups in Honduras." I followed those links and found that it funds, for example, the foreign travels of La Paz mayor Danilo Cervantes, a member of the Nationalist Party of Honduras, one of the parties that back the coup d'etat. (It was the Nationalist Party candidate for president Porfirio Lobo Sosa, who ran against Zelaya in the last presidential election and will reportedly try again for that post this year.)
That constitutes support for a political party, whether the money is channeled through a municipal government controlled by it or not doesn't change that IRI funds (that is to say, US taxpayer funds) are bolstering the coup.
Perhaps the functionaries at IRI don't see it that way, but the people of Honduras and the world clearly will. Any further use by IRI to fund such projects should be prohibited by NED as part of the sanctions until the coup regime falls.
What a joke.
The reality is the people of Honduras are being deprived of the very resources on which they depend for a lively hood. There has to be a better and more equitable way for the US to do business around the globe.
The invasion of Iraq and the rationale behind it is precisely the same as in Honduras and countless other countries across the planet. Nobody who keeps themselves even moderately informed can still claim there was any other reason to occupy Iraq, other than for it's oil.
Consider the havoc and devastation of infrastructure and social services...the lives of millions of people have been ruined, hundreds of thousands killed, even more maimed and disabled and millions displaced and exiled into refuge status for years. Does that sound like it's just?
There has to be a better way of doing business than toppling regimes who won't give their resources away and installing despots happy to sell their people out. And make no mistake, this is exactly what the Honduran coup is all about.
Ratcliff's conditions for the negotiation -- approved by secretary of state Clinton -- included the following five main terms:
1. Zelaya can return to the presidency, but not to power. The presidency and the exercise of power are two different things.
2. Zelaya must not pursue any plans to reform the constitution or promote polls or referendums that give voice to the people.
3. Zelaya must distance himself substantially from President Chávez. "This is essential", they said.
4. Zelaya must share governance with the Congress and those in the coup regime until the elections in November.
5. Zelaya must give amnesty to all those involved in the coup.
Well, there you have it! Obama's first coup and Hillary's first use of "smart power" to achieve the ouster of a left-leaning president that was further opening the doors of Central America to Latin American integration and sovereignty. There is no doubt that this coup has been executed to cease the expansion of socialism and Latin American independence in the region.
http://links.org.au/node/1147
See http://www.chavezcode.com/
I tip my hat for Obama.
Somebody who actually knows what is happening with far left dictators in the hemisphere.