The US has worked over Cuba the way it did Iraq, with the result the people of those countries have suffered economically. They may have suffered anyway, but not to the extent they have. (And why is it that the refugees from Cuba are political refugees, but the refugees from Central America are economic refugees subject to deportation?)

I've had friends who have visited Cuba for extended periods. One of them stayed with a doctor and his family. Another stayed with a university professor, and a third just traveled. They were in the countryside with families for a month to six weeks at a time and each and every one of them says things aren't that bad. They are good, actually. The people seem happy, family structures are strong.

And if it's true, it irritates me that their infant mortality is lower than that in the US. May be that a lot of what little money they have goes into care of and not killing people. Says a lot about priorities.

Look at the war in Iraq. It is an axiom of intelligence that one NOT believe your own propaganda. It is created for the True Believers, in the secure knowledge they will extrapolate. I'm reminded of my JHS football coaches. By HS we knew better.

Arf