Bush has shown he has no principles when it comes to pandering for votes. Bush is willing to prostitue his oppositon to those who committ act of terrorism to gain votes amongst the radical Cubano population of Miami. It would seem he is willing to endorse the position of the Sunni's, Palestinians, and yes--even al Quida that " one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter."

The Bush administration knowingly admitted acknowledged terrorists into Florida. Last month, three terrorists arrived in the United States. They didn't sneak in, they used a regular commercial airline. They didn't try to hide their arrival, they were greeted by cheering crowds. The Bush administration not only didn't try to stop them, but it didn't even raise a hint of protest.

According to the LA Times, Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso inexplicably pardoned four Cuban exiles convicted of "endangering public safety" for their role in an assassination plot against Fidel Castro during a 2000 international summit in Panama.

Upon their release, three of the four immediately flew via private jet to Miami, where they were greeted with a cheering fiesta organized by the hard-line anti-Castro community. Federal officials briefly interviewed the pardoned men — all holders of U.S. passports — and then let them go their way.

And this comes from an administration that wouldn't grant a diplomatic visa to Gerry Adams, even though he was an elected representative of Ireland at the time, under the pretext that he formerly had be accused of terrorist associations in the IRA.

The time reports the Bush heros were: 1. Guillermo Novo, who e fired a bazooka at the U.N. building; in February 1979, he was convicted and sentenced to 40 years for conspiracy in the 1976 assassination of former Chilean diplomat Orlando Letelier as well as an American, Ronni Moffitt, in Washington. (His conviction was subsequently vacated on a legal technicality. 2. Gaspar Jimenez was convicted and imprisoned in Mexico in 1977 for murdering a Cuban consulate official; he was released by authorities in 1983. 3. Pedro Remon received a 10-year sentence in 1986 for conspiring to kill Cuba's ambassador to the United Nations in 1980.

The terrorist backgrounds of these people are undeniable. So why did the Bush administration not raise a peep of protest, either at their release or at their travel to the United States?

Currying favor with anti-Castro constituents in Miami appears to trump the president's anti-terrorism principles.

Bush's failure to even say something negative about the release of terrorists and their arrival in the United States istrikes me as being very serious, regardless of whether they are also "freedom fighters" or not. Treating "terrorists" differently when they "terrorize" someone you don't like makes it clear that Bush isn't really waging a war on terrorism after all.

Once again, the proof is in the pudding that the so-called "war" on terror is just another Republican sham. A political ploy used to scare people into voting for the self defined "strong" man to protect them.

Publius