Immoral, Not Inept! By: Syndicated Columnist David Sirotta
"The Bush administration and the Republican Party are often criticized for refusing to aggressively use the "soft power" of international diplomacy. But alas, the attacks are misguided. This crew is more than willing to use "soft power", not in Iraq, but in Central America, and not in an effort to bring American troops home, but in a ploy unfolding this weekend to enrich its big campaign contributors through the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA)." ..."Costa Rica, by contrast, was the lone nation that refused to immediately ratify the pact. The pushback was a particularly damning commentary on the deal considering that, unlike its neighbors, Costa Rica is not some war-torn quasi-colony but a longstanding democracy, "Central America's most prosperous economy and a model of social stability for the region," according to the Los Angeles Times. Opposition to CAFTA exploded from every part of Costa Rican civil society; labor unions, human rights groups, religious organizations, you name it.The out
