Washington refuses to back Aruba boycott

[sabra]

http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=19&story_id=25226&name=Washington+refuses+to+back+Aruba+boycott

Washington refuses to back Aruba boycott

AMSTERDAM — The call by Alabama governor Bob Riley for American tourists to boycott the autonomous Dutch island of Aruba is not supported by Washington.

During a meeting at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday evening, Chat Blakeman, Deputy Chief of Mission at the American Embassy in The Hague, confirmed "the governor's comments do not reflect the view of the United States".

Prime Minister Nelson Oduber of Aruba had asked Washington to clarify its position after Riley called on his fellow governors to support a boycott of the Caribbean island.

Riley accused the island authorities of not fully cooperating in the search for missing Alabama school graduate Natalee Holloway (18). "There are no other alternatives to get Aruban authorities to take this as seriously as they should," he said on Tuesday.

[MADem]

1. Hmmm, Alabama might not be safe for a Bushevik in 08...n/t

[eissa]

2. These people are so incredibly

stupid. I work with one who also makes anti-Aruba comments (along with anti-France/Germany, and the world in general). Should we boycott Colorado for failing to find the murderer of JonBenet? Or D.C. for not finding Chandra Levy's murderer? Or I don't know how many states for not finding innumerable missing people? Sheesh.

[pitohui]

3. chandra levy's murderer found long ago

it was one of those they splash the false accusations on the front page but they bury the truth on the back page

you can prob. still google it but in short, levy's killer was already in prison during the summer of "let's hate on condit," he was quickly caught because he attacked two other joggers in the same park in the same way but they survived, for some reason his interrogation was bungled because they could not find one speaker of spanish in the usa to translate properly so his case was incorrectly cleared for months on end while condit was falsely accused & attacked in the media

a disgraceful episode in american history

[marshall]

4. Killer found?

All the news accounts I find, on the web and on Lexis Nexis, say the killer was never found. Maybe you're thinking of somebody else? Lord knows there are enough cases crammed down our throats nightly of pretty white women gone missing.

[DoYouEverWonder]

10. Supposedly it was some guy

I think maybe homeless, either way, he'd been attacking joggers in that park for a while. Once they figured out that it was probably him, the story fell off the radar. Whether or not they ever found enough evidence to charge him is another matter.

[pop goes the weasel]

5. isn't the problem the AL governor is mad about

the perceived lack of cooperation from Aruba's government? It isn't that the disappearance/murder/whatever is unsolved, but that the AL government isn't able to get the Aruban government to coordinate. That always pisses off government leaders. That the case in question is high visibility and might result in extra votes is, from the governor's P.O.V., icing on the cake. But don't you wonder, if the Aruban government is really being an obstacle to investigation, whether there might indeed be high-level complicity? Look at our government and the cover-ups there. It certainly isn't out of the question. If you're going to be a criminal, the safest day job to have would be in the halls of power. I haven't paid enough attention to know whether there is anything to any of the charges, but it does seem unusual to me that a governor is that frustrated.

As for me, my distressing lack of money makes sure that I will be boycotting Aruba. In fact, I will be boycotting any place that isn't on the road between home and work. Since the economy is so lousy, how would anyone be able to tell if a lack of visitors to Aruba, or Yellowstone, or wherever, is a boycott or higher fuel costs?

[wordpix]

12. the murder is solvable but one of the boys she was last seen with

has a father who's an Aruban judge or bigtime lawyer, can't remember which---apparently, there is some obstruction going on there. Also, another boy confessed that he raped the girl that night because she "dressed like a slut"---yet he is still walking around free.
Also, there was a complete bungling in collecting evidence in the first weeks of the disappearance---it was so bad as to look deliberate.

[Taverner]

6. Save the Pretty White Girl Foundation

They are an endangered species dontcya know?

:sarcasm:

[toopers]

14. Man, that is pretty harsh!

EOM

[Dulcinea]

7. Boycotting Aruba won't bring her back.

I feel terrible for her family, but I think whatever happened to Natalee Holloway was probably an accident. Maybe she got busy on the beach, went for a swim, & drowned.

Aruba is an island! If her body was there, they would have found it by now. There would be more evidence of foul play. How long can you hide a body on an island, fer Chrissakes?

[LostinVA]

11. Dr. Phil says she was kidnapped by sex traffickers

Or so he said on Leno. Dr. Phil has always been nuts, but he's now officially jumped the shark.

[toopers]

13. Though I have not seen the show,

I think Dr. Phil got that "info" from one of the suspects directly.

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Voltaire99]

9. What an appalling act of economic terrorism by Riley.

Punishing entire populations...

Americans must learn to resist their inner Sharon.