Americans should seriously contemplate the reality of their democracy

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Thursday, May 01, 2003 By: Peter Armstrong

Date: Wed, 30 Apr 2003 18:21:48 -0600 From: Peter Armstrong herrqlys@hotmail.com To: Editor@vheadline.com Subject: April 11 coup d'etat linked to Bush 'dirty wars' team

Dear Editor: Firstly, I found your detailing of the affiliations of Otto Reich, Elliot Abrams and John Negroponte very interesting. Despite their nefarious backgrounds, these people have important positions with the current Bush administration, so their malodorous past must be OK with Cheney and the boys.

What a moral cesspool. ¡Preparate, America!

Secondly, the Iran-Contra affair was mentioned twice in this article, but never once hinted at the further Reagan administration perfidy of cocaine trafficking. It was the illegal trafficking in cocaine that provided the CIA with the clandestine funds to buy the weapons to be sold to Iran in the first place (against the US's own embargo on that country).

The Iranian payments for the weapons were essentially laundered (spin cycle and all) drug money for supporting the Contra terrorists against a democratically elected government in Nicaragua. The proceeds from the sale of missiles and spare jet fighter parts to Iran were to be the secret, "clean" funding of the CIA's dirty war in Nicaragua. Col. Oliver North was a Reagan man, with an office in the White House. How obvious does this get?

The Iran-Contra affair expose should have blown the lid off the sleaze that accompanies the American political system. The forgeries and lies invoked to propel the rush to illegal war in Iraq should also have been accompanied by US public outrage. Yet they didn't. The majority of the US public just bleated like sheep, and let it happen.

Compared to these things, explicit US involvement in a Venezuelan coup d'etat is almost pedestrian -- except if you're Venezuelan. At least an outraged Venezuelan public was courageous enough to do something about immoral actions in their country. Public anger and demonstrations forced the coup kidnappers to release President Hugo Chavez Frias within 48 hours.

• Dictator-for-a-Day Pedro Carmona got the bum's rush ... Democratic Venezuelans can be proud of that!

Americans should hang their heads in shame ... Americans should also seriously contemplate the reality of their "democracy."

Peter Armstrong herrqlys@hotmail.com