You Do the Crime, You Do the Time
The front page of yesterday's Orlando Sentinel featured an article on the impending early return of Vietnamese-born Orlando resident Cuc Foshee, accused of involvement with a plot to jam Vietnamese radio waves with pro-democracy messages, following a 14-month detention in Vietnam.
Her early release was secured by U.S. Senator Mel Martinez, R-Fla., who "threatened to halt permanent trade legislation if Foshee, a pro-democracy activist and Republican supporter, were not returned home safely," reported the Sentinel, referring to Congress's consideration of permanent trade status with Vietnam. In addition, President Bush will soon be visiting Vietnam to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit.
While it is true that when wars end, there must be a perception of reconciliation and normalization of relations, that is not the issue here. Foshee was found guilty of violating U.S. and Vietnamese law through her involvement with smuggling and communications interference operations. This story carries several implications.
First, the article contends that Foshee's detention in a Vietnamese jail for the past 14 months is a human rights violation (she was convicted of terrorism in Ho Chi Minh City two days before her release, and was scheduled for release in early December.)
If Vietnam held Foshee for 14 months without bringing charges, how does this differ from our treatment of prisoners in the current War on Terror? In terms of denial of habeus corpus and long-term imprisonment without trial, Vietnam is simply following the U.S. lead.
Further, why should she be absolved of her wrongdoing, as she clearly engaged in criminal activity by violating Vietnamese communications laws, which are analogous to our FCC laws. They are restricting freedom of speech in their airwaves as we do in ours; as Americans, we should respect that restriction and regulation. And they don't even have a First Amendment.
The U.S. has no right to force Vietnam's hand to release Foshee. We should not be encouraging our citizens to violate U.S. neutrality laws by giving her a soft place to land. She should be tried under U.S. laws for violating that neutrality. Let's keep this international, and not personal. If an Arab citizen attempted the same activities as Foshee in America, she'd be incarcerated without a trial.
Second, having voiced support for normalizing trade relations with Vietnam, I wonder why our national policy forbids trade with Cuba. Cuba is no more repressive towards its citizens than Vietnam or China is towards theirs, yet anachronsitic U.S. embargoes remain in place.
Of course, the contradictory policies are the result of varying political pressures. The displaced Cuban population in South Florida is dictating Cuban policy to a compliant and acquiescent U.S. We won't trade with Communist Cuba, but we will trade with a Communist Vietnam, even though they killed 58,000 of our soldiers.
The Vietnamese and Cuban exiles here want U.S. policy that is antagonistic to Vietnam and Cuba. Both want the U.S. government to represent their interests, but both groups chose to run, versus opposing the takeover of their countries by Communist forces. The U.S. is not responsible for salving the hurt pride of these expatriates. The job of the U.S. is to create realistic policies towards Vietnam and Cuba.
Last, it seems the Republicans are in the business of whitewashing criminal activity, so long as it is done by one of the party faithful. In the recent past, why wasn't evangelist Ted Haggard or his john tried for sex crimes or methamphetamine sales and possession? When Haggard said he was "tempted" by the meth he had purchased, but did not use it, the drug violation was morphed into a moral one, and not even that; it became instead a close brush with a moral violation, somewhat akin to former President Carter's admission to "lusting in his heart." Nothing more, nothing less.
When our own Florida Governor Bush's daughter, Noelle, was caught trying to fill an illegally gotten prescription for Xanax in 2002, she got whisked away to rehab, and everyone in the Bush family was very sorry for the mistake. Living in the Sunshine State as I do, I would wager a guess that if a poor minority resident were caught doing the same thing, he'd be incarcerated right quick.
Now it is Cuc Foshee. I'm sure she will become some sort of democratic outreach poster child. And she has worked hard for the Republican party, after all. She is being rewarded for criminal activity in the name of force-feeding democracy abroad. Our own Tokyo Rose, but ours stumps for democracy. But like Rose, she is a criminal, and should be dealt with accordingly.
Jim and Lisa
Her early release was secured by U.S. Senator Mel Martinez, R-Fla., who "threatened to halt permanent trade legislation if Foshee, a pro-democracy activist and Republican supporter, were not returned home safely," reported the Sentinel, referring to Congress's consideration of permanent trade status with Vietnam. In addition, President Bush will soon be visiting Vietnam to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit.
While it is true that when wars end, there must be a perception of reconciliation and normalization of relations, that is not the issue here. Foshee was found guilty of violating U.S. and Vietnamese law through her involvement with smuggling and communications interference operations. This story carries several implications.
First, the article contends that Foshee's detention in a Vietnamese jail for the past 14 months is a human rights violation (she was convicted of terrorism in Ho Chi Minh City two days before her release, and was scheduled for release in early December.)
If Vietnam held Foshee for 14 months without bringing charges, how does this differ from our treatment of prisoners in the current War on Terror? In terms of denial of habeus corpus and long-term imprisonment without trial, Vietnam is simply following the U.S. lead.
Further, why should she be absolved of her wrongdoing, as she clearly engaged in criminal activity by violating Vietnamese communications laws, which are analogous to our FCC laws. They are restricting freedom of speech in their airwaves as we do in ours; as Americans, we should respect that restriction and regulation. And they don't even have a First Amendment.
The U.S. has no right to force Vietnam's hand to release Foshee. We should not be encouraging our citizens to violate U.S. neutrality laws by giving her a soft place to land. She should be tried under U.S. laws for violating that neutrality. Let's keep this international, and not personal. If an Arab citizen attempted the same activities as Foshee in America, she'd be incarcerated without a trial.
Second, having voiced support for normalizing trade relations with Vietnam, I wonder why our national policy forbids trade with Cuba. Cuba is no more repressive towards its citizens than Vietnam or China is towards theirs, yet anachronsitic U.S. embargoes remain in place.
Of course, the contradictory policies are the result of varying political pressures. The displaced Cuban population in South Florida is dictating Cuban policy to a compliant and acquiescent U.S. We won't trade with Communist Cuba, but we will trade with a Communist Vietnam, even though they killed 58,000 of our soldiers.
The Vietnamese and Cuban exiles here want U.S. policy that is antagonistic to Vietnam and Cuba. Both want the U.S. government to represent their interests, but both groups chose to run, versus opposing the takeover of their countries by Communist forces. The U.S. is not responsible for salving the hurt pride of these expatriates. The job of the U.S. is to create realistic policies towards Vietnam and Cuba.
Last, it seems the Republicans are in the business of whitewashing criminal activity, so long as it is done by one of the party faithful. In the recent past, why wasn't evangelist Ted Haggard or his john tried for sex crimes or methamphetamine sales and possession? When Haggard said he was "tempted" by the meth he had purchased, but did not use it, the drug violation was morphed into a moral one, and not even that; it became instead a close brush with a moral violation, somewhat akin to former President Carter's admission to "lusting in his heart." Nothing more, nothing less.
When our own Florida Governor Bush's daughter, Noelle, was caught trying to fill an illegally gotten prescription for Xanax in 2002, she got whisked away to rehab, and everyone in the Bush family was very sorry for the mistake. Living in the Sunshine State as I do, I would wager a guess that if a poor minority resident were caught doing the same thing, he'd be incarcerated right quick.
Now it is Cuc Foshee. I'm sure she will become some sort of democratic outreach poster child. And she has worked hard for the Republican party, after all. She is being rewarded for criminal activity in the name of force-feeding democracy abroad. Our own Tokyo Rose, but ours stumps for democracy. But like Rose, she is a criminal, and should be dealt with accordingly.
Jim and Lisa
posted by rangeragainstwar at 9:47 PM
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