Arming Fidel

By Oliver North

"I don't think many people perceive Castro as a threat to the United  - States." -- June 8, 2001

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- That was the assessment of defense attorney Al Krieger,  - who once represented mob boss John Gotti, after a Miami jury convicted five  - Cuban agents of spying for Fidel Castro (news - web sites). Thankfully, the  - jurors disagreed with Krieger and handed down sweeping guilty verdicts.  - Unfortunately, official Washington thinks Krieger is right. They see the  - aging tin-horn who rules Cuba as a harmless old coot. Those who believe that  - had better think again. Fidel has found a new benefactor.

Last Tuesday, four days after the verdict in the Cuban spy case, with  - President Bush (news - web sites) traveling in Europe, the East Asia/Pacific  - Subcommittee of the House International Relations Committee held a quiet  - hearing on the wisdom of renewing Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR  - (news - web sites)) for the People's Republic of China. James Kelly,  - assistant secretary of state for Asian affairs, was doing his best to support  - the administration's position that renewing PNTR is a wise thing to do, when  - my colleague from the Reagan White House, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (news - bio -  - voting record), R-Calif., came out of his chair.

Brandishing an article by Bill Gertz of The Washington Times charging  - Beijing with shipping arms and explosives to Cuba, Rohrabacher asked what the  - State Department thought of these transfers. "We are very much concerned with  - this PLA (People's Liberation Army) cooperation and movement of military  - equipment in Cuba," Kelly politely replied. But later in the day, the State  - Department released a statement that China would not be subject to sanctions  - for shipping arms to a nation listed as a state sponsor of terrorism because  - there "has not been a determination that China has transferred lethal  - military equipment to Cuba."

"What do they (the State Departmen) need?" asked Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen  - (news - bio - voting record), R-Fla., who also serves on the International  - Relations Committee, when I called her that afternoon. "This isn't something  - new," she added. "The People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Castro regime  - have been getting closer for years. The communist Chinese already have two  - electronic eavesdropping stations in Cuba. Their espionage site at Bejucal  - allows them to monitor U.S. personal, commercial and political  - communications. PRC intelligence sites in Cuba allow them to listen to almost  - everything on the U.S. East Coast."

Then Ros-Lehtinen added a haunting thought to the equation. "There are  - substantiated reports listing Cuba as a country with a biological weapons  - program," she told me. "What if the PRC's weapons will enable the Castro  - regime to launch offensive biological weapons at the U.S.?"

Infortunately, both Rohrabacher and Ros-Lehtinen appear destined to be  - ignored by a Washington power structure intent on renewing PNTR for the  - communist Chinese. Republicans, still smarting from the Senate's power shift,  - are loathe to criticize the White House. Democrats, many of whom support Ted  - Kennedy's call for "normalization" of relations with Cuba, don't want to rock  - the boat. And no one on either side of the political spectrum wants to find  - fault with Colin Powell (news - web sites)'s State Department.

Rep. Porter Goss, R-Fla., chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee  - on Intelligence, told me, "We shouldn't be surprised that the PRC is making  - mischief with rogue nations. There is a pattern of behavior here." Then he  - added an ominous footnote: "Recall what happened when the government of India  - discovered that the PRC was helping Pakistan develop nuclear weapons. They  - went and demonstrated their own."

Goss wouldn't speculate on what military hardware the communist Chinese  - delivered to Havana, so I called a senior intelligence officer and asked,  - "Why do you think the PRC would be making shipments of military explosives  - and 'det-cord' to Cuba?" His reply: "The bigger question is, 'What else has  - Beijing shipped, and why?'"

I asked Rohrabacher that question. "Beijing is looking for leverage -- just  - like the Soviets did back in the '60s. First, it's small arms, then it's  - anti-aircraft weapons, and they'll keep pushing until we have to give up  - something in return. And of course, what they will want us to give up is our  - commitment to protect Taiwan," he said.

Rohrabacher may be right. We now know, decades later, that part of the  - secret deal President John F. Kennedy struck with Kruschev was to remove  - short-range tactical nuclear weapons from Turkey in exchange for the Soviets  - removing their missiles from Cuba. Would Beijing be willing to "leverage"  - Cuba for a free hand with Taiwan?

The pro-PRC lobby in Washington argues that the stakes today are too high  - for Beijing to try this kind of brinkmanship. Yet Red China's actions for the  - past five years indicate they are willing to risk a rupture with the U.S.:  - espionage, illegal political contributions, military assistance to Iraq and  - Libya, its own military build-up, overt threats that "Los Angeles is within  - range" of their ICBM's, the EP-3 incident, and now Cuba.

Most people in Washington believe trade with the United States is more  - important to the rulers in Beijing than anything else. But some, like  - Rohrabacher and Ros-Lehtinen know that's self deception. And they want the  - rest of their colleagues to wake up before it's too late.  -

Top ^