[Peace-discussion] FBI goes after reporter's notes on Posada Carriles

Tue, 5 Dec 2006 00:15:43 -0500

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Why the FBI Is Coming After Me 

www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/10/AR2006111001384

html 

By Ann Louise Bardach 

Sunday, November 12, 2006; B03 

As a rule, I don't believe in conspiracy theories. They tend to be tidy and 

selective, whereas life seems so random and messy. But the case of Cuban 

militant and would-be Fidel Castro assassin Luis Posada Carriles has sorely 

tested my convictions. 

I've been writing about Posada for nearly a decade. I interviewed him in
Aruba 

for a series of articles in the New York Times in 1998. He was a fugitive
who 

had escaped from Venezuela in 1985 while awaiting trial in the 1976 bombing
of a 

Cuban passenger plane that killed all 73 people aboard-- the first deadly
act of 

airline terrorism in the Americas. Posada has maintained his innocence, but
in a 

rare instance of unanimity, the CIA and the FBI, as well as Venezuelan, 

Trinidadian and Cuban intelligence, concluded that he and fellow militant 

Orlando Bosch had masterminded the bombing. 

Last year, I wrote an Outlook article about Posada's surprise arrival in
Miami, 

where he filed a claim for political asylum. Not only did this move strike
many 

as brazen, but it also seemed incomprehensible that the Bush administration,
so 

committed to what it calls the War on Terror, could have allowed someone of 

Posada's notoriety to slip into the country. 

Soon after, Homeland Security Department officials got around to arresting 

Posada and charging him with illegal entry. I assumed that the Justice 

Department would act on his self-admitted history of paramilitary attacks
and 

extradite him somewhere, and that I'd just continue to cover his case.
Instead, 

the government has dithered for a year and a half while Posada languishes in
an 

immigration jail in Texas. 

And I, meanwhile, have found myself an unwitting player in the tangled drama
of 

the United States and Luis Posada. 

Not long after Posada's arrest, FBI and Homeland Security agents began to
phone 

me, seeking information about the New York Times series. One agent came
right 

out and asked if I'd share my research materials -- as well as my copies of
FBI 

and CIA files on Posada. "Do us a favor," he said. "We can't find ours." I 

laughed politely, assuming it was a strained attempt at humor. But he wasn't

kidding. 

In August 2003, the Miami bureau of the FBI made the startling decision to
close 

its case on Posada. Subsequently, according to FBI spokeswoman Judy
Orihuela, 

several boxes of evidence were removed from the bureau's evidence room, or
the 

"bulky," as it is known. Among the documents that disappeared was the
original 

signed fax that Posada had sent to collaborators in Guatemala in 1997, 

complaining of the U.S. media's reluctance to believe reports about a series
of 

bombings in Cuba, which he hoped would scare tourists and investors away
from 

Castro's island. 

I had shown Posada a copy of this fax during my interviews with him. The fax
had 

been intercepted by Antonio Alvarez, a Cuban exile and businessman who had 

shared office space with Posada in Guatemala in 1997. Alarmed, Alvarez had 

notified agents from the FBI's Miami bureau, but when they took no action,
he 

had turned to the Times. 

"If there is no publicity, the job is useless," Posada wrote in the fax.
"The 

American newspapers publish nothing that has not been confirmed. I need all
the 

data from the [bombing of the] discotheque in order to try to confirm it."
It 

was signed "Solo," his nom de guerre. 

Posada fretted to me that the fax could cause him problems with the FBI. But
he 

had no need to worry. 

Hector Pesquera, the special agent in charge of the Miami FBI bureau at the 

time, showed little interest in Posada's case. To his agents' distress, he 

enjoyed socializing with Miami's hard-line exile politicians, and denied
agents' 

requests for wiretaps on Bosch, known as the godfather of the paramilitary 

groups, as well as other militants suspected of ongoing criminal activity. 

Pesquera shuttered investigations into exile militants, agents say, before 

retiring in December 2003. 

Without the materials that were removed from the evidence room, which also 

included cables and money transfers between Posada and his collaborators in
the 

Cuban bombings, a criminal prosecution of Posada is severely hobbled.
Orihuela, 

the FBI spokeswoman, explained that "the supervisory agent in charge and
someone 

from the U.S. attorney's office would have had to sign off" before evidence
is 

removed and destroyed. She confirmed that the approval to dispose of the 

evidence was given by the case agent on Posada, who happened to be Ed
Pesquera 

-- Hector's son. 

Though Posada's case was reopened in May 2005 and is now pending, the
decision 

to close it in the first place baffled many longtime FBI and Miami Dade
police 

investigators. Rarely had Posada been more active. In addition to the Cuban 

bombing campaign, he and three comrades had been arrested in Panama in 2000
in 

connection with an attempt to assassinate Castro. 

In late April last year, while I was out at the hair salon, my husband
phoned to 

tell me that two Department of Homeland Security agents had arrived at my
home 

in Santa Barbara, Calif., to serve me with a subpoena. I told him to ask the

agents to leave and refer their inquiries to the Times. Eventually, they
served 

the Times' lawyers. Over the next few months, a dance played out in the U.S.

District Court for the Southern District of Florida. After the Times filed
its 

motion to quash the subpoena, the Justice Department withdrew it in August
2005. 

Later, while I was working on an article about Posada for the current issue
of 

the Atlantic Monthly, one of his attorneys told me that Posada's case "is
being 

handled at the highest levels" of the Justice Department. All they have to
do to 

detain Posada indefinitely, he explained, is to have Attorney General
Alberto R. 

Gonzales certify him as a national security threat. "But they're not going
to do 

that," he added. "That would create problems for the Bush people with their 

Cuban-exile base in Miami." In other words, the government does not want to 

mount its own case -- and risk alienating Cuban American allies. Better it 

should get reporters to build its case. 

On Sept. 11, the Justice Department whirled into action, perhaps emboldened
by 

the symbolism of the date. It struck a plea deal for about two years in
prison 

for Posada's comrades Santiago Alvarez and Osvaldo Mitat, who had been
facing up 

to 50 years in prison for the illegal possession of hundreds of firearms. On
the 

same day, a magistrate judge in El Paso recommended that Posada be released,
as 

Justice had yet to file charges. (On Nov. 3, the presiding judge gave the 

government 90 days to make its case.) And later that afternoon, a Justice
lawyer 

called the Times and said that another subpoena would be issued for
materials 

relating to Posada. 

On Oct. 6, the 30th anniversary of the bombing of the Cuban plane (you have
to 

give them credit for timing), I received a new subpoena. This one, issued by
a 

federal grand jury in Newark, was requested by Gonzales. They may be
ambivalent 

about the war on terrorism over at the Justice Department, but you can't 

question their dedication to their war against the Fourth Estate. For my
part, 

it raised a peculiar pickle: contemplating how far one should go to protect
the 

civil liberties of an accused terrorist. 

My case, thankfully, does not involve confidential sources. And both the law

according to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit, where the case
is 

pending, and the Justice Department's own guidelines are clear: Prosecutors 

cannot compel reporters to turn over information that they can obtain
through 

other means. Only after other avenues have been pursued should the
government 

turn to the media to build a prosecution. 

Call me a strict constructionist, but somehow I do not believe that our
founding 

fathers meant to allow the government to raid the news media for their work 

files after it bungles a case and destroys crucial evidence. 

The Justice Department's new subpoena says that it wants only the tape 

recordings from my interview with Posada. Aside from the huge intrusion and 

inconvenience of searching through about 15 years' worth of research
materials, 

the entire ordeal strikes me as a waste of time. 

Posada agreed to meet with me because he wanted to publicize his efforts to 

topple Castro. I recorded as much as possible in the event that Posada may
later 

have regrets. Which he did. But over the two days I spent with him, he
revealed 

a good deal about his various bombing campaigns and his general philosophy. 

My coauthor Larry Rohter, Times editors and I picked out the strongest and
most 

interesting parts of the transcripts and notes for our stories. Contrary to
what 

the great minds at Justice may think, we don't hold back the best bits -- we

publish them. And just last month, the Atlantic published on its Web site 

Posada's notes to me, in which he offered editorial guidance -- "He does not

admit the bombs in the hotels, but he does not deny either," he wrote. 

The FBI and the Justice Department are filled with dedicated public
servants, 

but it is the political appointees who make the final decisions. And for
them, 

Posada may be a man who knows too much. His attorneys say that he was a paid
CIA 

agent from 1959 until the mid-1980s. Indeed, upon his "escape" from prison
in 

1985, Posada promptly found employment running the Iran-contra field
operation 

in El Salvador. Bosch, his co-defendant in the Cuban plane bombing, was 

championed by none other than Jeb Bush in his bid for U.S. residency, which
was 

granted in 1991 by President George H.W. Bush over the objections of the
FBI, 

the CIA and the Justice Department. 

And there are other thorny details in this case. The Miami-Dade Police 

Department's liaison to the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force has been a 

well-regarded detective named Luis Crespo Jr. -- who is the son of Luis
Crespo, 

one of the most famous anti-Castro militants, known as El Gancho, or The
Hook, 

because of the hand he lost to an ill-timed bomb. 

Working alongside Crespo Jr. is detective Hector Alfonso, whose father is
also a 

legendary anti-Castro militant, known as Hector Fabian. Assigned to the MDPD

intelligence unit, Alfonso's son has access to the most sensitive
information on 

homeland defense, including on Cuban exile militants. "Say you had a tip for
the 

FBI about a bombing," muses D.C. Diaz, a 27-year department veteran. "Would
you 

want to give it to a guy whose father is Luis Crespo?" 

Before the government starts tampering with the Constitution's protections
of 

the press, it needs to do some housecleaning. A good start would be a
special 

prosecutor to look into who ordered the removal of the Posada evidence, and
why. 

If it then decides that it wants to go further, it might peruse the 45
years' 

worth of CIA and FBI files on Posada that detail his paramilitary career.
And 

there are a dozen or so comrades of Posada's in Miami and New Jersey who
know a 

great deal more than I do. 

But that's assuming that the government wants to prosecute Posada. It has 

declined to do so for decades. And nothing so far suggests that it is
inclined 

to start now. 

bardachreports@aol.com 

Ann Louise Bardach is the author of "Cuba Confidential" (Vintage) and the
editor 

of "Prison Letters of Fidel Castro," forthcoming from Avalon in February. 

--

Diana Barahona

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<div class=3DSection1>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>Why the FBI Is Coming After Me <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'><a
href=3D"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/10/A=
R2006111001384">www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/10/=
AR2006111001384</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 color=3Dblack face=3D"Courier =
New"><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;color:black'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></font></p=
>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>html <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>By Ann Louise Bardach <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>Sunday, November 12, 2006; B03 <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

As a rule, I don't believe in conspiracy theories. They tend to =
be tidy
and <o:p></o:p>

selective, whereas life seems so random and messy. But the case =
of
Cuban <o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>militant and would-be Fidel Castro assassin Luis Posada Carriles =
has
sorely <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

tested my convictions. <o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

I've been writing about Posada for nearly a decade. I =
interviewed him
in <st1:place w:st=3D"on">Aruba</st1:place> =
<o:p></o:p>

for a series of articles in the New York Times in 1998. He was a
fugitive who <o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>had escaped from <st1:country-region w:st=3D"on"><st1:place =
w:st=3D"on">Venezuela</st1:place></st1:country-region>
in 1985 while awaiting trial in the 1976 bombing of a =
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>Cuban passenger plane that killed all 73 people aboard-- the =
first
deadly act of <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

airline terrorism in the <st1:country-region =
w:st=3D"on"><st1:place
 w:st=3D"on">Americas</st1:place></st1:country-region>. Posada has =
maintained his
innocence, but in a <o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>rare instance of unanimity, the CIA and the FBI, as well as =
Venezuelan,
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>Trinidadian and Cuban intelligence, concluded that he and fellow
militant <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

Orlando Bosch had masterminded the bombing. =
<o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>Last year, I wrote an Outlook article about Posada's surprise =
arrival
in <st1:place w:st=3D"on"><st1:City =
w:st=3D"on">Miami</st1:City></st1:place>, <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

where he filed a claim for political asylum. Not only did this =
move
strike many <o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>as brazen, but it also seemed incomprehensible that the Bush
administration, so <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>committed to what it calls the War on Terror, could have allowed
someone of <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

Posada's notoriety to slip into the country. =
<o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>Soon after, Homeland Security Department officials got around to
arresting <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

Posada and charging him with illegal entry. I assumed that the =
Justice <o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>Department would act on his self-admitted history of =
paramilitary
attacks and <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

extradite him somewhere, and that I'd just continue to cover his =
case.
Instead, <o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>the government has dithered for a year and a half while Posada
languishes in an <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

immigration jail in <st1:State w:st=3D"on"><st1:place =
w:st=3D"on">Texas</st1:place></st1:State>.
<o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>And I, meanwhile, have found myself an unwitting player in the =
tangled
drama of <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

the <st1:country-region w:st=3D"on"><st1:place =
w:st=3D"on">United States</st1:place></st1:country-region>
and Luis Posada. <o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>Not long after Posada's arrest, FBI and Homeland Security agents =
began
to phone <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

me, seeking information about the New York Times series. One =
agent came
right <o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>out and asked if I'd share my research materials -- as well as =
my
copies of FBI <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

and CIA files on Posada. &quot;Do us a favor,&quot; he said. =
&quot;We
can't find ours.&quot; I <o:p></o:p>

laughed politely, assuming it was a strained attempt at humor. =
But he
wasn't <o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>kidding. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>In August 2003, the <st1:City w:st=3D"on"><st1:place =
w:st=3D"on">Miami</st1:place></st1:City>
bureau of the FBI made the startling decision to close =
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

its case on Posada. Subsequently, according to FBI spokeswoman =
Judy
Orihuela, <o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>several boxes of evidence were removed from the bureau's =
evidence room,
or the <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

&quot;bulky,&quot; as it is known. Among the documents that =
disappeared
was the original <o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>signed fax that Posada had sent to collaborators in =
<st1:country-region
w:st=3D"on"><st1:place =
w:st=3D"on">Guatemala</st1:place></st1:country-region> in
1997, <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>complaining of the <st1:country-region w:st=3D"on"><st1:place =
w:st=3D"on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region>
media's reluctance to believe reports about a series of =
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>bombings in <st1:country-region w:st=3D"on"><st1:place =
w:st=3D"on">Cuba</st1:place></st1:country-region>,
which he hoped would scare tourists and investors away from =
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

Castro's island. <o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

I had shown Posada a copy of this fax during my interviews with =
him.
The fax had <o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>been intercepted by Antonio Alvarez, a Cuban exile and =
businessman who
had <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

shared office space with Posada in <st1:country-region =
w:st=3D"on"><st1:place
 w:st=3D"on">Guatemala</st1:place></st1:country-region> in 1997. =
Alarmed, Alvarez
had <o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>notified agents from the FBI's <st1:City w:st=3D"on"><st1:place =
w:st=3D"on">Miami</st1:place></st1:City>
bureau, but when they took no action, he <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>had turned to the Times. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

&quot;If there is no publicity, the job is useless,&quot; Posada =
wrote
in the fax. &quot;The <o:p></o:p>

American newspapers publish nothing that has not been confirmed. =
I need
all the <o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>data from the [bombing of the] discotheque in order to try to =
confirm
it.&quot; It <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>was signed &quot;Solo,&quot; his nom de guerre. =
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

Posada fretted to me that the fax could cause him problems with =
the
FBI. But he <o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>had no need to worry. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>Hector Pesquera, the special agent in charge of the Miami FBI =
bureau at
the <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

time, showed little interest in Posada's case. To his agents' =
distress,
he <o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>enjoyed socializing with <st1:City w:st=3D"on"><st1:place =
w:st=3D"on">Miami</st1:place></st1:City>'s
hard-line exile politicians, and denied agents' =
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>requests for wiretaps on Bosch, known as the godfather of the
paramilitary <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

groups, as well as other militants suspected of ongoing criminal =
activity.
<o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>Pesquera shuttered investigations into exile militants, agents =
say,
before <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>retiring in December 2003. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>Without the materials that were removed from the evidence room, =
which
also <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>included cables and money transfers between Posada and his =
collaborators
in the <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

Cuban bombings, a criminal prosecution of Posada is severely =
hobbled.
Orihuela, <o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>the FBI spokeswoman, explained that &quot;the supervisory agent =
in
charge and someone <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>from the <st1:country-region w:st=3D"on"><st1:place =
w:st=3D"on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region>
attorney's office would have had to sign off&quot; before evidence is =
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

removed and destroyed. She confirmed that the approval to =
dispose of
the <o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>evidence was given by the case agent on Posada, who happened to =
be Ed
Pesquera <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>-- Hector's son. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>Though Posada's case was reopened in May 2005 and is now =
pending, the
decision <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>to close it in the first place baffled many longtime FBI and =
Miami Dade
police <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

investigators. Rarely had Posada been more active. In addition =
to the
Cuban <o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>bombing campaign, he and three comrades had been arrested in =
<st1:country-region
w:st=3D"on"><st1:place =
w:st=3D"on">Panama</st1:place></st1:country-region> in 2000
in <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

connection with an attempt to assassinate Castro. =
<o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>In late April last year, while I was out at the hair salon, my =
husband
phoned to <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>tell me that two Department of Homeland Security agents had =
arrived at
my home <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

in <st1:place w:st=3D"on"><st1:City w:st=3D"on">Santa =
Barbara</st1:City>, <st1:State
 w:st=3D"on">Calif.</st1:State></st1:place>, to serve me with a =
subpoena. I told
him to ask the <o:p></o:p>

agents to leave and refer their inquiries to the Times. =
Eventually,
they served <o:p></o:p>

the Times' lawyers. Over the next few months, a dance played out =
in the
<st1:country-region w:st=3D"on"><st1:place =
w:st=3D"on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region>
<o:p></o:p>

District Court for the Southern District of Florida. After the =
Times
filed its <o:p></o:p>

motion to quash the subpoena, the Justice Department withdrew it =
in
August 2005. <o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>Later, while I was working on an article about Posada for the =
current
issue of <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>the Atlantic Monthly, one of his attorneys told me that Posada's =
case
&quot;is being <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

handled at the highest levels&quot; of the Justice Department. =
All they
have to do to <o:p></o:p>

detain Posada indefinitely, he explained, is to have Attorney =
General
Alberto R. <o:p></o:p>

Gonzales certify him as a national security threat. &quot;But =
they're
not going to do <o:p></o:p>

that,&quot; he added. &quot;That would create problems for the =
Bush
people with their <o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>Cuban-exile base in <st1:City w:st=3D"on"><st1:place =
w:st=3D"on">Miami</st1:place></st1:City>.&quot;
In other words, the government does not want to =
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

mount its own case -- and risk alienating Cuban American allies. =
Better
it <o:p></o:p>

should get reporters to build its case. =
<o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

On Sept. 11, the Justice Department whirled into action, perhaps
emboldened by <o:p></o:p>

the symbolism of the date. It struck a plea deal for about two =
years in
prison <o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>for Posada's comrades Santiago Alvarez and Osvaldo Mitat, who =
had been
facing up <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

to 50 years in prison for the illegal possession of hundreds of
firearms. On the <o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>same day, a magistrate judge in <st1:City w:st=3D"on"><st1:place =
w:st=3D"on">El
  Paso</st1:place></st1:City> recommended that Posada be released, as =
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

Justice had yet to file charges. (On Nov. 3, the presiding judge =
gave
the <o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>government 90 days to make its case.) And later that afternoon, =
a
Justice lawyer <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>called the Times and said that another subpoena would be issued =
for
materials <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

relating to Posada. <o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

On Oct. 6, the 30th anniversary of the bombing of the Cuban =
plane (you
have to <o:p></o:p>

give them credit for timing), I received a new subpoena. This =
one,
issued by a <o:p></o:p>

federal grand jury in <st1:City w:st=3D"on"><st1:place =
w:st=3D"on">Newark</st1:place></st1:City>,
was requested by Gonzales. They may be ambivalent =
<o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>about the war on terrorism over at the Justice Department, but =
you
can't <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

question their dedication to their war against the Fourth =
Estate. For
my part, <o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>it raised a peculiar pickle: contemplating how far one should go =
to
protect the <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

civil liberties of an accused terrorist. =
<o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

My case, thankfully, does not involve confidential sources. And =
both
the law <o:p></o:p>

according to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit, =
where the
case is <o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>pending, and the Justice Department's own guidelines are clear:
Prosecutors <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>cannot compel reporters to turn over information that they can =
obtain
through <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

other means. Only after other avenues have been pursued should =
the
government <o:p></o:p>

turn to the media to build a prosecution. =
<o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>Call me a strict constructionist, but somehow I do not believe =
that our
founding <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>fathers meant to allow the government to raid the news media for =
their
work <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

files after it bungles a case and destroys crucial evidence. =
<o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>The Justice Department's new subpoena says that it wants only =
the tape <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

recordings from my interview with Posada. Aside from the huge =
intrusion
and <o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>inconvenience of searching through about 15 years' worth of =
research
materials, <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

the entire ordeal strikes me as a waste of time. =
<o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>Posada agreed to meet with me because he wanted to publicize his
efforts to <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

topple Castro. I recorded as much as possible in the event that =
Posada
may later <o:p></o:p>

have regrets. Which he did. But over the two days I spent with =
him, he
revealed <o:p></o:p>

a good deal about his various bombing campaigns and his general
philosophy. <o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>My coauthor Larry Rohter, Times editors and I picked out the =
strongest
and most <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

interesting parts of the transcripts and notes for our stories.
Contrary to what <o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>the great minds at Justice may think, we don't hold back the =
best bits
-- we <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

publish them. And just last month, the <st1:place =
w:st=3D"on">Atlantic</st1:place>
published on its Web site <o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>Posada's notes to me, in which he offered editorial guidance --
&quot;He does not <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

admit the bombs in the hotels, but he does not deny =
either,&quot; he
wrote. <o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>The FBI and the Justice Department are filled with dedicated =
public
servants, <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

but it is the political appointees who make the final decisions. =
And
for them, <o:p></o:p>

Posada may be a man who knows too much. His attorneys say that =
he was a
paid CIA <o:p></o:p>

agent from 1959 until the mid-1980s. Indeed, upon his
&quot;escape&quot; from prison in <o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>1985, Posada promptly found employment running the Iran-contra =
field
operation <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

in <st1:country-region w:st=3D"on"><st1:place w:st=3D"on">El =
Salvador</st1:place></st1:country-region>.
Bosch, his co-defendant in the Cuban plane bombing, was =
<o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>championed by none other than Jeb Bush in his bid for =
<st1:country-region
w:st=3D"on"><st1:place w:st=3D"on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region> =
residency,
which was <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

granted in 1991 by President George H.W. Bush over the =
objections of
the FBI, <o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>the CIA and the Justice Department. =
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

And there are other thorny details in this case. The Miami-Dade =
Police <o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>Department's liaison to the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force has =
been a
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

well-regarded detective named Luis Crespo Jr. -- who is the son =
of Luis
Crespo, <o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>one of the most famous anti-Castro militants, known as El =
Gancho, or
The Hook, <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

because of the hand he lost to an ill-timed bomb. =
<o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

Working alongside Crespo Jr. is detective Hector Alfonso, whose =
father
is also a <o:p></o:p>

legendary anti-Castro militant, known as Hector Fabian. Assigned =
to the
MDPD <o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>intelligence unit, Alfonso's son has access to the most =
sensitive
information on <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

homeland defense, including on Cuban exile militants. &quot;Say =
you had
a tip for the <o:p></o:p>

FBI about a bombing,&quot; muses D.C. Diaz, a 27-year department
veteran. &quot;Would you <o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>want to give it to a guy whose father is Luis Crespo?&quot; =
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>Before the government starts tampering with the Constitution's
protections of <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

the press, it needs to do some housecleaning. A good start would =
be a
special <o:p></o:p>

prosecutor to look into who ordered the removal of the Posada =
evidence,
and why. <o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>If it then decides that it wants to go further, it might peruse =
the 45
years' <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

worth of CIA and FBI files on Posada that detail his =
paramilitary
career. And <o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>there are a dozen or so comrades of Posada's in <st1:City =
w:st=3D"on">Miami</st1:City>
and <st1:State w:st=3D"on"><st1:place w:st=3D"on">New =
Jersey</st1:place></st1:State>
who know a <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

great deal more than I do. <o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

But that's assuming that the government wants to prosecute =
Posada. It
has <o:p></o:p>

declined to do so for decades. And nothing so far suggests that =
it is
inclined <o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>to start now. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>bardachreports@aol.com <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>Ann Louise Bardach is the author of &quot;Cuba =
Confidential&quot;
(Vintage) and the editor <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

of &quot;Prison Letters of Fidel Castro,&quot; forthcoming from =
Avalon
in February. <o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>--<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoPlainText><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt'>Diana Barahona<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

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