Scott Ritsema
CIVICS NEWS.com
May 22, 2008
George Washington's Blog has posted on new distressing torture revelations. If you want to live in ignorance, don't read their post or our links listed below. If you want a sanitized version of history and current events, there are many places to get that, but this is not one of them. Be forewarned that this is not pleasant reading. But you probably want to know what is being done in your name as an American, and if you're a Christian, keep in mind that "America" is closely associated with Christianity in peoples' minds.
Before exposing our own government's crimes, it is important to state that we pledge allegiance to what the rule of law (our republic) actually means. And we pledge to not blindly follow any government policies of either political party that violate the Constitution, regardless of which "news" outlets promote such policies and regardless of what the excuses given are. And more importantly, we pledge allegiance to the Jesus and His Kingdom realities, which stand in direct opposition to much of what governments do in the world, which should outrage even those with the flimsiest of conscience. Let's be robustly pro-American, reject anti-Americanism, and stand patriotically for America's exceptional values of life, liberty, and human dignity. We are unique in the world in a good way, and let's keep it that way.
Spend an hour educating yourself about this issue. Watch Taxi to the Dark Side, the Academy Award-winning documentary film (contains inappropriate material, particularly for ladies), which documents some of these outrages upon human dignity. Watch Torturing Democracy. Human beings are endowed by their Creator with unalienable rights. Humans, in some mysterious way, bear the imprint or the "image" of their Creator. Violating their humanity is deadly serious.
~Former CIA Interrogator: We carried out torture because the White House told us to
~CIA chief backs rendition flights (transporting detainees to "black sites" in former Eastern Bloc countries, Egypt, or elsewhere, where secret "interrogations" take place)
~The CIA is using the very same techniques that we used to train our soldiers to ENDURE from communist thugs; also discussed in the NYT under the title, "Soviet-Style Torture becomes 'Interrogation'"
~Fox Analyst: Americans are not above torture and shouldn't be
~Mental breakdowns are caused by our routine policy
~Not surprisingly, suicides are common in the detention facilities
~Photos of tortured Iraqi's corpse released
~Are critics correct that Iraq torture is "worse after Saddam?"
~Keep also in mind that 70-90% of Iraqi detainees were arrested by mistake, and are innocent, according to U.S. intelligence
~Dershowitz argues for legalizing torture in the U.S.: "there is no absolute right not to be tortured" (he disagrees with the 8th Amendment's protection of your natural right against cruel punishment)
~Brigadier General exposes the role of the show, 24, in promoting torture. Ineterrogators "were told that the Geneva Conventions didn't apply anymore. So our training was obsolete and we were encouraged to be creative. We turned to television and movies to look for ways of interrogating."
~Afghan prisoners beaten to death at u.s. military interrogation base
~Canadian police errors led to man's torture
~U.S. admits German's abduction and "extradudicial interrogations" were based on "an error"
~Guards describe Guantanamo prisoner abuse
~Humiliation and child abuse at Israeli checkpoints
~Lawyers argue Bush can legally order torture
~Bush Advisor Says President Has Legal Power to Torture Children
~The U.S. Army's own report on the admitted conduct at Abu Ghraib (yes, there was a lot more than humiliating nudity and the other commonly-mentioned things) is also disturbing to read, but important for us to confront.
~Not surprisingly, torture architect feels guilt about toture of women and children
~A similary story out of The Guardian about hundreds being tortured
~Guards also deal with psychosis, depression and even suicide after the brutal treatment of their detainees
~Would a futuristic conscience-free government help or hurt the cause of human rights?
~Given what our poor soldiers are exposed to, it's not surprising that desertions are so high
~Also, tragically, many veterans take their own life at shocking rates after what they've seen. ABC called this a "stunning...hidden epidemic" of suicides. These numbers dwarf the numbers of official casualties.
~Torturing Children: Bush's legacy
----------------------------------------------------------
Congratulations, America ... Children are Being Tortured in Your Name
George Washington's Blog: Thursday, May 22, 2008
Over the last 24 hours, news about U.S. torture has been leaking out:
--A former prisoner testified to Congress that he was beaten, hung by his arms for five days, subjected to electrical shocks and, "They stuck my head into a bucket of water and punched me in the stomach," he said. "I inhaled the water. ... It was a strong punch."
--The FBI was so disturbed at what they saw at Guantanamo that FBI staff created a "war crimes file" to document accusations against American military personnel at Guantanamo. For example, the head of the FBI's national security law unit wrote in July 2003: "Beyond any doubt, what they are doing (and I don't know the extent of it) would be unlawful were these enemy prisoners of war"
--The U.S. military not only tortured prisoners for themselves, but also did the "dirty work" of "softening up" prisoners for Chinese interrogators
The U.S. has also tortured prisoners to death in Guantanamo, Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere.
Not bad enough for you?
Well, the U.S. has imprisoned 2,500 children since 9/11 as "enemy combatants", in violation of the Geneva Convention against classifying children as POWs.
Still not disgusted?
Okay . . . Pulitzer-prize winning reporter Seymour Hersh says that the U.S. Government has videotapes of boys being raped at Abu Ghraib prison (see also this and this).
This doesn't come as a complete surprise, given that assistant deputy Attorney General John Yoo has publicly argued that the president can order the torture of a child of a suspect in custody – including by crushing that child’s testicles.
Congratulations, America. This is being done in your name.
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Your Thoughts?