Today, December 3rd, is the second anniversary of the arrest of American aid worker, Alan Gross. For two years now, Gross has been held hostage by the Castro dictatorship, which refuses to release him unless a ransom is paid. It is a crime that should be causing outrage amongst the American people, but they cannot be outraged if they do not know who Alan Gross is.
The sad reality is that Alan Gross is the forgotten hostage.
The Obama administration and its State Department’s inept and amateurish approach to this kidnapping has only served to exacerbate the situation. Their weak and submissive approach has caused a family to suffer indescribable pain and misery for two years while Alan Gross rots in a Castro gulag. The U.S. government has chosen to play the game according to the rules set down by a band of murderous criminals in Havana, keeping this case as low profile as possible. For that reason, few people know that an innocent American is being held hostage by a rogue regime.
Nevertheless, there are many, including us, who are trying to publicize this atrocity in the hopes that the U.S. government will finally act on behalf of this helpless man and his suffering family. Several members of congress have stepped up in defense of Alan Gross. None of this, however, is a substitute for an American policy that confronts and directly challenges the criminal Castro regime. History has taught the world that the Castro dictatorship is emboldened by an opponent’s weakness, and will cave when aggressively confronted. Until the Obama administration begins to act boldly, the Castro regime will continue its lawless behavior, and Alan Gross will continue to be the forgotten hostage.
Alberto, don’t forget that its not only the State Department’s fault, its also the MSM’s fault. After all, Gross is not a hostage in Honduras, or under a government like that of the former [gasp] despicable Alvaro Uribe of Colombia.
You can bet your bottom dollar that if that had been the case, the MSM would have taken care to inform every American family including their dog, cat and goldfish. In fact, we’d be saturated.
But, you know how things are. We must continue giving the castro brothers a free pass. If an innocent American citizen must languish sick in a jail for that and if his elderly mother must be sent to an early grave, so be it. Tat, tat.
Obama is highly unlikely to do much about this before the 2012 election, and the MSM will accommodate his need for keeping the matter as unobtrusive as possible. Can’t have his campaign efforts disrupted or complicated by this sort of thing (which should have been handled well over a year ago, but never mind). Apparently, high-profile Jewish Americans, certainly those that qualify as usual suspects, are choosing to keep out of it. Judy Gross has already implied that Jews in Cuba have also taken a hands-off approach. Playing the humanitarian card, no matter how appropriate, will NOT work with the Castro regime, just as it wouldn’t with Arab terrorists (unless Gross deteriorates to the point that Castro, Inc. fears he might die on them and cause a PR debacle, as well as leave them empty-handed). This is a mini-version of the American hostage situation in Iran during Carter’s presidency.
I’m afraid the Gross family is looking at at least another year of this ordeal, which is of course a crime, but it’s been a crime for the last two years as well. It is beyond disgraceful that Obama has been so negligent, especially given the fact that Gross dedicated five weeks to working for his presidential campaign. In other words, Gross is not one of “those people” from South Florida or a Republican. Judy Gross has said her mother-in-law wrote to Obama and didn’t even get a form-letter reply. I mean, it’s appalling. That’s why it shows major class, as well as courage and conviction, for Gross and his family to reject what Castro, Inc. wants, which is a swap for the five convicted Cuban spies now in the US.
Naturally, I hope justice will prevail, sooner or later, but it might not be soon enough, at least for some of the victims in this situation. The main culprit is obviously Castro, Inc., but there’s no point expecting it to be anything but itself. The POTUS, however, is also responsible, and expecting him to act appropriately is perfectly reasonable. For all practical purposes, resolving this is Obama’s job.
IMO if Obama wins re-election, he’s going to hand the Castros a big prize. An end to pro-democracy programs, which will pretty much shut off bad press because if the U.S. doesn’t care, no one else will, and what a fun punch to the long hated exilio that will be for them… followed by an end to the embargo. That’s Mr. Gross ticket home. I don’t believe for a moment that Obama cares what happens to Mr. Gross or his family. There’s a reason he’s lovey dovey with dictators and terrorists, in his heart agrees with them.
BTW, does anyone know if Romney or Gingrich has said what they would do to free Alan Gross?