The co-host of a recent top-dollar fundraiser for Sen. John McCain oversaw the payment of roughly $1.7 million to a Colombian paramilitary group that is today designated a terrorist organization by the United States.

Carl H. Lindner Jr., the billionaire Cincinnati businessman, was CEO of Chiquita Brands International from 1984 to 2001, and remained on the company's board of directors until May 2002. Beginning under his tenure, Chiquita executives paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (known by the Spanish acronym AUC), which is described by George Washington University's National Security Archive as an "illegal right-wing anti-guerrilla group tied to many of the country's most notorious civilian massacres."

Following a Justice Department indictment last year, Chiquita admitted to illegally funding the paramilitaries and agreed to pay a $25 million fine. Chiquita's payments to the AUC began in 1997 and lasted seven years; roughly half of the funds came after the group was designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the U.S. State Department in 2001.

According to the Justice Department, the payments "were reviewed and approved by senior executives" of Chiquita, who knew by no later than September 2000 "that the AUC was a violent, paramilitary organization."

Late last week, Lindner co-hosted a $25,000-per-person fundraiser for McCain and the Republican Party in the wealthy Indian Hills neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio. The event raised about $2 million; Lindner also serves on McCain's Ohio Victory Team.

While Lindner was CEO of Chiquita, the company began sending money to the AUC through its shipping subsidiary Banadex. A report by the Organization of American States states that Banadex also engaged in arms trafficking, helping to deliver 3,000 Nicaraguan AK-47 rifles and millions of rounds of ammunition to the AUC in 2001. According to federal prosecutors, when company officials realized the arrangement was illegal, they switched to making the payments in cash.
McCain Backer's Firm Pleaded Guilty To Funding Terrorist Group In Colombia - Politics on The Huffington Post

Yet again helping to prove the culture of corruption amongst the ...
Oh wait. This is one of those Republican ones, isn't it...
Move along. Nothing to see here...
< end sarcasm >


Anybody wants to bet on whether McCain keeps the money?

This wasn't giving money as a form of sympathizing or a rooting interest...

From a real source...

Chiquita Fined $25M For Terror Ties

Now is what they did wrong?...Absolutely...

But to twist this into a "They were funding a right-wing terrorist group because this guy Lindner is a right-wing kinda guy." is disingenuous (As reported, they also paid off leftist rebel groups).

This was a large scale version of a Mom & Pop store in the local Italian neighborhood paying off the mafia so "no accidents happen".

Would anyone say the Mom & Pop store was FUNDING the mafia or was in cahoots with them beause of payments?...Of course not...In fact, I would guess most here would sympathize with them...

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"You get the respect that you give" - cnredd

Also note that they took responsibility for thier actions, a trait that seems far, far away from the crooks surrounding the Dems. It's always "I didn't do it!", instead of "Yes, I screwed up and I'm willing to accept the appropriate justice."

Yeah, I know that there are exceptions and that the leftists here will flood us with those exceptions, but the fact remains that the left far less likely to take responsibility for thier wrong-doing than those on the right. And the left is far more likely to embrace those who are so blatantly criminal that it's emabarassing to know that there are people in this country who would actually vote for them.

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Our nation has not always lived up to its ideals, yet those ideals have never ceased to guide us. They expose our flaws, and lead us to mend them. We are the beneficiaries of the work of the generations before us and it is each generation's responsibility to continue that work. - Laura Bush

God is a conservative -

Ecclesiastes 10:2--"A wise man's heart inclines him to the right, but a fool's heart to the left."

I saw no such "twisting" in the article.
Nor was there any such "twisting" in my post.
In fact, I had to go back and reread the article cause the "right-wing terrorist" aspect wasn't even important the first time I read it.
Furthermore, the article EXPLICITLY acknowledges "left-wing terrorist" payments as well.

You're jousting at strawmen arguments.


I'm sorry, but what world do you live in?
Our sitting president has run ads claiming people support terrorism if they buy POT.
While I personally would sympathize, from Republican precedent I don't understand why the Bush-ite Republicans should, unless it's just because it's Republican...

Let me repeat something for you....

According to federal prosecutors, when company officials realized the arrangement was illegal, they switched to making the payments in cash.

Does that sound like "they took responsibility for their actions"???
Nooooo...

They GOT BUSTED, and they had NO CHOICE as to whether or not they paid a fine.


ROFLMAO!
That's what is hilarious about your rant.
You keep making these unsubstantiated claims, and you ADMIT that your claims have huge holes in them.
BUT YOU KEEP MAKING THEM.

And in this case, it's NOT a case where they ACTUALLY took it UPON THEMSELVES to act responsible.
They CONTINUED with MORE COVERT actions when they REALIZED IT WAS ILLEGAL.

If that's the "Republican" version of "taking responsibility", you can keep it.

When I hear about "Cold Cash" Jefferson taking responsibility for his actions or any number of criminals surounding the current Dem. leadership coming to justice, you'll have a point. Until then, it's more deflection and distraction. That's all this thread is about - trying to place attention on someone else's problem while ignoring your own, even worse one. When are we goingto hearthe Dems. (leadership and electorate) start standing up and demanding that the criminal connections that pervade the Dem. party be broken?? Every time we trun around there's another Dem. associates crook getting busted, yet there's no "anti-corruption" candidates rising up, no groundswell movement from the electorate to "vote the bums out". All we see is the same crooks getting re-elected, the same crooks influencing the Dem. leadership and the utter silence from the left. Remember the Abramhoff scandal? Most of the Reps. involved are no longer in office, ALL of the Dems. are still in office. How about Stubbs and Jefferson? Two criminals who got caught in the act and are still getting re-elected over and over again.

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Our nation has not always lived up to its ideals, yet those ideals have never ceased to guide us. They expose our flaws, and lead us to mend them. We are the beneficiaries of the work of the generations before us and it is each generation's responsibility to continue that work. - Laura Bush

God is a conservative -

Ecclesiastes 10:2--"A wise man's heart inclines him to the right, but a fool's heart to the left."

As soon as you can get back to the subject at hand, which is THIS scandal, instead of obfuscating it by trying to discuss other scandals, let me know.

If you want to talk further about your INACCURATE claim that this case is an example of "taking responsibility", let me know.

Until then, you're just obfuscating the obvious...

Here's the twist...at least one of them...

Now this may be true, but it intentionlly gives the implication that Chiquita knew that the AUC was designated a terrorist organization...
That would be untrue...

Do you honestly think Chiquita executives knew that the AUC was designated 2 seconds after the government announced it?...

Well...They didn't...

From CNNMoney...

In other words, they thought they were paying protection money to a group they thought was NOT designated a terrorist organization...But when they found out they were, they immediately VOLUNTEERED their payment information...

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"You get the respect that you give" - cnredd

Yeah.

Let's ask the COMPANY THEMSELVES about this, cause they are obviously always truthful and never try to spin things...

Let me repeat...

According to federal prosecutors, when company officials realized the arrangement was illegal, they switched to making the payments in cash.

AND told the Department of Justice they were doing so!!!

Voluntarily!!!...

In other words, they came right out and TOLD the government "We're making payments you guys consider illegal, but we're doing it to save the lives of our employees...We have no problem with a settlement and a fine. We are guilty."...

And none of this explains what this has to do with McCain...

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"You get the respect that you give" - cnredd