Things have been pretty busy around here lately ... I'm grateful for everybody's patience with us while we clear some other projects. I had meant to post Eugene Robinson's article from WaPo yesterday, but didn't have time. Now, before I could do anything about it, somebody (a Pentagon official, actually) has already written an interesting letter to the editor about the whole thing.
In his April 21 op-ed column, "When Slapped, Slap Back," Eugene Robinson revealed a dangerous ignorance about Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chávez that is common among those on the left, including our new president.
While opining that President Obama should have been a little less chummy with Mr. Chávez at the recent Summit of the Americas, Mr. Robinson concluded that "any idea that Chávez is some sort of threat to the United States is absurd."
Current and former Pentagon and intelligence operatives with whom I have spoken strongly disagree with Mr. Robinson's assessment. One reason is that in late 2006, the investigations subcommittee of the House Committee on Homeland Security released a report, "Line in the Sand: Confronting the Threat at the Southwest Border," that stressed that U.S. military and intelligence officials believed that Venezuela was emerging as a potential hub of terrorism in the Western Hemisphere. Why? Mr. Chávez has been working closely with military and intelligence operatives from Iran, Cuba, Syria, China and Russia.
He is buying billions of dollars in military equipment from Russia. He has imported hundreds of Cuban intelligence operatives. The opposition, as well as our intelligence services, fear that he is bringing Hamas and Hezbollah terrorists into Venezuela to learn Spanish and then be supplied with Venezuelan identity cards to infiltrate our country. What is Mr. Robinson's definition of a "threat"?
While the likes of Sean Penn, Danny Glover, Joseph P. Kennedy II, Rep. Bill Delahunt (D-Mass.) and others may sing his praises, Mr. Chávez is anything but the "charming" person Mr. Robinson painted him to be. He is a growing threat to our nation and hemisphere. Don't take my word. Ask President Álvaro Uribe of Colombia or President Felipe Calderón of Mexico.
DOUGLAS MACKINNON
Washington
Douglas MacKinnon was a press secretary to former senator Robert J. Dole (R-Kan.), a writer for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, and a Pentagon official.
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