GAO Report: Bush Obsessed More with Cuba than with Terrorism

The New York Times is again behind the curve. Today it reported on a GAO study that found the Bush administration to be so obsessed with Cuba that it "may be distracting some American government agencies from higher-priority missions like fighting terrorism and combating narcotics trafficking."

The article goes on further to note that the GAO report asks "Treasury Department to scrutinize the priorities of its Office of Foreign Assets Control," which is supposed to enforce trade sanctions, especially by tracking the assets of terrorist groups. Over the past few years, the Times reports, of "the office opened 10,823 investigations into possible violations involving Cuba and just 6,791 investigations on all other cases."

In other words, the US systematically harasses and investigates the 37,000 Americans who go to Cuba annually but who have nothing to do with terrorism, but still can't tell you where Osama bin Laden is. Recall their investigation into Michael Moore's trip to Cuba to make his film Sicko.

Little, old Cuba. 11 million people. No longer a platform for Soviet missiles. Just a country that wants to be free from US influence and seeks expanded trade and business with farmers and other business persons in the US and other countries. Cuba is struggling to build a democratic society based on socialist principles rather than capitalism. But this is not the US government's business. Cuba poses no threat. It is time to lift the embargo and respect the fundamental human right of the freedom of travel.

But the point is that Political Affairs reported on the Bush obsession with Cuba a while back. This is not a new story.