Castro says only U.S. nuclear attack can defeat him

[truthpusher]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N01535787.htm

Castro says only U.S. nuclear attack can defeat him
02 Feb 2005 02:57:33 GMT

Source: Reuters

By Anthony Boadle

HAVANA, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Cuban President Fidel Castro said on Tuesday the only way the United States could overthrow his communist government was by the nuclear destruction of Cuba.

Castro, whose one-party state was recently labeled an "outpost of tyranny" by U.S President George W. Bush's administration, said Cuba would resist an American invasion like Vietnam.

Since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, Castro has repeatedly accused the Bush administration of wanting to invade Cuba to oust him. U.S. officials say the charge is rubbish.

"I hope I'm wrong ... but if they make the mistake of attacking and invading this country, I recommend Mr. Bush had better launch 50 nuclear weapons and exterminate us all," Castro said in a speech.

"We prefer to die in heaven than to survive in hell," the 78-year-old leader told delegates to a literacy conference.

more:

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N01535787.htm

[Laurab]

1. Well, * should know an "outpost of tyranny"

when he sees one.

[eallen]

2. A few more years, and I think time will do the job for us. :)

[Minstrel Boy]

3. The headline doesn't appear to accurately reflect his remarks.

He wasn't talking about himself, he was talking about the US defeating Cuba.

[RoeBear]

5. Exactly what

I was thinking.

[thebigidea]

13. I think the US has been saying that for decades.

[eallen]

29. That would be silly. Life expectancy in Cuba is 77.

And for fifty year-olds, it likely is 80-something. Why would anyone twenty-five years ago not expect Castro to reach at least 80?

[zmdem]

4. Death will probably do the job

It is notable that he didn't suggest that he could possibly lose office via election.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

30. I'm curious. What does the "zm" in your name stand for? (nt)

[sasquatch]

6. Castro is safe in Cuba because the Repugs need the Cubano-Americano vote

Once he's gone the Cuban's will vote they're best interest instead of their ignorant hatred of JFK. So the Repugs will go to them and say
"CASTRO, CASTRO, WHOO...BE SCARED, BE AFRAID, AHAHAHAHAHA!!
And a lot of the old timers will buy into the shit despite the fact that the thugs won't do a God damn thing about it.

[Mystified]

7. What's he thinking?

Does he really want to play chicken with Bush? After all, our Fearless Leader has repeatedly shown that reason does not enter into his decision making process. I'm sure he'd have no qualms about nuking an island 70 (?) miles away from the Florida Keys.

[genieroze]

18. That's what I was thinking. What is he doing, daring us? We are talking

about * here.

[ckramer]

8. Castro D man!

[shadowknows69]

9. Fidel!!!!

this is one cowboy you shouldn't give such ideas to, trust us on this one.

[PartyPooper]

10. Fidel Castro, you rock!

:yourock:

[RockStar]

11. Prepare to be freed and liberated soon cuba in the name of freedom..excuse

me why i go puke ..i sound like a republican

[shadowknows69]

14. I don't think liberation will be a factor.

Cuba just gave shrub permission to turn it into a shiny glass parking lot.

[Mystified]

15. Sure it will!

Ask any good republican. Death by vaporization is a much more preferable fate than living under communism!

[alexisfree]

12. will be a freedom for cuba...

if Castro keeps talking...:scared: .....

[SlavesandBulldozers]

16. notice how we slide back into thefearful, jagged embrace of

the cold war. soon the "War on Terror" will just vanish and we will be right back where we started in the 50's.

[BrightKnight]

17. Why bother? They are stable and they don't have any oil.

Taking him out would be easy. Establishing a democratic government could be more difficult. Bush asks for $20 billion for the Cuba reconstruction effort? We don’t really need communist anti-American rebels off the coast of Florida.

[reprobate]

19. Ah, but cuba DOES have oil. Recently discovered offshore.

China helped them find it and will help them develop it.

Which of course is a good reason to invade. My only question is just what army will we use? While the dollar is dropping is not a good time to look for mercenaries.

Thanks, George.

God Help America

[BrightKnight]

24. Castro started a foreign legion.

Perhaps we could start a foreign legion and beat him at his own game. If anything goes wrong we could blame the Hessians.

[Renew Deal]

20. The old guy still has some fire.

:nuke:

[INDIA]

21. What's our policy?

What is our policy for when the old cigar chomper finally kicks it? There could be chaos 90 miles from Florida! Will we send in the military as peacekeepers? Wait and see? This could happen at any moment too. (especially if he trips and falls on something sharp)

[d_b]

22. Don't give him any ideas Castro

[BrightKnight]

28. Bush adds Cuba to his legacy? He's crazy enough to do it.

If Castro starts playing with the Chinese, things could get ugly.

[American Tragedy]

23. Classic Castro

But, it's hard to say if Castro is genuinely discerning Bush's ambitions, or just spurriously judging according to his own impulses. As some of our older members might recall, Castro urged Khrushchev to launch strategic nuclear missiles against the United States less than forty years ago.

[Judi Lynn]

25. I've never seen it written that putting the missiles in Cuba was Castro's

idea. Not once, nor have I seen it written that he encouraged Kruschev to launch them, which would have meant Cuba would have been vaporized in response almost instantly.

Here's a time line from that era:

1961
2nd January
Cuba tells the UN Security Council that the US is preparing an invasion
3rd January
US breaks off diplomatic relations with Cuba
1st March
Reports of at least ten violations of Cuban airspace by hostile aircraft
9th March
Ecuador's President Ibarra reveals details of US demands that his country break off diplomatic relations with Cuba as a condition of the approval of loans
29th March
CIA agent Carlos Antonio Rodriquez Cabo - "El Gallego" is arrested by Cuban soldiers and accused of acts of terrorism
15th April
Following terrorist bombings in Cuba, Cuban airfields are bombed by eight unidentified B-26 bombers, which destroy more than a quarter of the country's fighter planes
17th April
The Bay of Pigs fiasco - Cuban exiles, trained, and equipped by the CIA, invade Cuba at the Bay of Pigs (known in Cuba as Playa Girón). The invaders are defeated and the USA is humiliated internationally.
30th November
President John F Kennedy authorises Operation Mongoose with the aim of eliminating Fidel Castro and defeating the Cuban Revolution
1962
7th February
Kennedy broadens the trade restrictions, banning all trade with Cuba except for the non-subsidised sale of foods and medicines
15th February
US Navy vessels patrol the Cuban coastine
23rd March
With food rationing already in place in Cuba, Kennedy further widens the Cuban embargo to include imports of any goods made from or containing Cuban materials, regardless of the country of manufacture
14th October

US spy planes photograph Soviet missile sites in Cuba, sparking the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Kennedy demands the withdrawal of Soviet missiles and imposes a naval blockade. Kruschev agrees on the conditions that Cuba receives a guarantee of non-aggression and on the US removal from Turkey of Jupiter missiles aimed at the Soviet Union.

While the world watches the stand-off, the USA secretly capitulates but the episode is hailed as a victory for Kennedy in the US and the west.
(snip/...)

http://www.nujglasgow.org.uk/handsoffcubatimeline.html

[American Tragedy]

26. Khrushchev said that Castro did.

Castro confirmed that recommendation in a 40th anniversary meeting in Havana, to the astonishment of McNamara, also in attendance, who had struggled to believe it as well.

As for getting the missiles there in the first place, I don't remember reading much on that. It's very possible that the Soviets foisted them on Cuba, I'll have to research it.

The world came damned close, Though to be fair, all parties contributed to some extent to the situation that had arisen. The CIA and neoconservatives obviously didn't learn the lesson of the Bay of Pigs, since we seem to keep replaying the same goddamn thing.

[sleipnir]

27. Careful what you wish for...you might just get it!

Watch out Castro, we've got ourselves a certified nuke nut in the oVal Office!