The Obama Administration announced today that, as part of its ongoing “normalization” of America’s relationship with Cuba, that we will officially drop Cuba off of the “SSOT” list, or the “State Sponsors of Terrorism” list. 

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According to Wikipedia, Cuba was placed on the list in March of 1982 and remained there because if its support for FARC, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, and ETA, the Basque Fatherland and Liberty movement in Spain. Cuba has maintained, publicly, that its support for armed revolution in other parts of the world is a thing of the past, but until recently, the Castro regime has sheltered members of both FARC and ETA. Although it allowed the TSA to view its airports late last year, it also does not particupate in any anti-terrorism measures or anti-terrorism task forces, raising speculation that terrorists from other parts of the world have used or could use Cuba to enter the U.S.

That said, the SSOT list, which carries with it unilateral sanctions, has only three other nations on it: Iran, Sudan, and Syria. Iraq, Libya, North Korea, and Yemen have all been on the list at one time, but were either too crucial to American nation-building efforts or too enamored with Dennis Rodman to require a continued presence on the SSOT list. And while the SSOT claims to be the “official” government list of state sponsors of terror, it leaves off a few big ones. Saudi Arabia, which is, arguably, the biggest state sponsor of terror in the world, is not among the countries America officially does not do business with. China and Russia, both of which regularly flex their hegemonic aspirations, have never been on the list either.

Congress now has a few months to verify the Obama Administration’s report and, if they find it wanting, pass a resolution blocking the drop.