Nicaraguans concerned about their troops in Iraq

[dArKeR]

MANAGUA, Nicaragua - (KRT) - In the early 1980s, Osman Corea Aguilera was a Sandinista soldier fighting U.S.-funded Contra rebels in the northern Nicaraguan hills, and he still carries bullet shrapnel in his hip from a Contra ambush.

Today, Lt. Col. Corea is the ground commander for the 113 Nicaraguan soldiers serving alongside United States forces in Iraq.

In 1979, Javier Carrion was one of the Sandinista guerrilla commanders who directed the overthrow of the U.S.-backed Somoza dictatorship, and he still proudly shows off photos of himself in scruffy beard, guerrilla's beret and camouflage.

Today, Gen. Carrion is the Nicaraguan army chief-of-staff, the man who sent the 113 soldiers to Iraq.

The arrival in Iraq of the Nicaraguan soldiers marks the latest step away from a Marxist-inspired Sandinista past for the army of this Central American nation, although the mission has unnerved more than a few people back home.

It is also a remarkable turnabout for Washington, which during the Reagan administration was obsessed with overthrowing the Sandinista regime.

http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/world/6857584.htm

[Noordam]

1. things that make you go Mmmmmmmmm

Hot off the line from AP

Powell Urges Nicaragua to Scrap Missiles
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: November 4, 2003


Filed at 7:47 a.m. ET

MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) -- With Central America fast becoming a region of peace, Nicaragua has no further need for almost 2,000 surface-to-air missiles left over from its 1980s civil war and should destroy them, Secretary of State Colin Powell says

...cut... more http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Powell.html

[David__77]

3. US is trying to disarm sovereign peoples.

This is wrong. The US, under Democrats and Republicans, has been trying to destroy the militaries of sovereign nations. They have a right and responsibility to provide for the defense of their own destinies. Obviously, the US government is trying to maintain hegemony at all costs.

[ProudGerman]

2. How in the hell?

These two men, Corea and Carrion, fought against US backed dictatorship and butchers, and here they are in Iraq helping the son of the man who they fought against???????

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Poppy have his hands all over the very forces these two men fought against? Now they are helping the dipshit son do the same in another country?

How fat was the check they were promised?

[dArKeR]

4. I'm sure a person who has never traveled overseas cannot comprehend

the conditions in Africa, South America, Asia, Middle East...

These places are in such terrible conditions... Money is normally used to buy off politicians/business leaders. NORMALLY not the exception. But you can see this is also the way life exists even to the poorest of the poor. If the police/army come down on a poor family, for whatever, the family will have to pay off the thugs with whatever they have. A pig, a cow, a TV, family jewelry...

IN ALL COUNTRIES, mentioned above, A GOVERNMENTAL POSITION IS A PLACE TO AQUIRE BRIBE/EXTORTION WEALTH.

In conclusion, I believe the Bush/GOP Family have set the world on a course of final destruction. America was supposed to be the guiding light for morality and honesty. But in fact the Bush/GOP have shown the world that immorality is the path the world should follow.
1. Illegal immoral butchering of Iraq.
2. Bush fundraising while our troops are being slaughtered.
3. All the illegal 'no bid' contracts given to Bush family donors.
4. Bush/GOP Junta of Election 2000.
5. Bush trying to assassinate Chavez/Castro and destroy their economies.
6. Bush and all American leaders immune from all ICC charges.
7. Israel continued building of homes on occupied Palistinian land.
...

Every place in the world is following the Bush/GOP example. (steal, kill, do anything you want to to get rich. If you need a special 'kick' to get what you want label it 'terrorism'.)

[Judi Lynn]

5. Really good post.

Sure wish more people could take a long hard look at these guys and see the BIG picture. What a damned shame when they can't, or won't.

[ozone_man]

7. Some great dArK thoughts.

It's sad to see Nicaragua caught up in this mess, or being bought into this mess. I am hoping that there will be solidarity in South and Central America against U.S. global imperialism as there is in many other parts of the world.

[peterh]

6. I’m sure Powell couldn’t get out of Nicaragua fast enough today…

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-3349122,00.html

Memo on Nicaragua Appears As Powell Visits

MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) - The State Department is distancing itself from an official U.S. memo released during the visit of Secretary of State Colin Powell that describes Nicaragua as a country with little hope and portrays pro-Americans there in unflattering terms.
``Nicaragua crawls along as the second-poorest country in the hemisphere after Haiti, battered by storms of nature and their own making, with little hope of changing things in the future,'' said the unsigned document released by the U.S. Embassy.
``Privileged Nicaraguans see the U.S. in a generally favorable light. They prefer to dress in Ralph Lauren shirts, drive large Ford SUVs, watch American movies and, when going out for a meal, brag that they go out to T.G.I. Friday's.''
The reporters accompanying Powell here found the document in a press packet distributed after Powell arrived late Monday for a 16-hour visit.




And me thinks there were just a few Nicaraguans that were glad to see him leave…