My husband, Dan, was the strongest man I ever knew. He was a Vietnam vet who survived torture, and suffered from his injuries for over thirty years, until his fatal heart attack almost four years ago. When I read about what the detainees, the renditioned and the disappeared have been through, their cries echo in my head. I can't stop what happened to Dan, but I can help these human beings. I hope you will take this journey with me, and learn more about what has been done in your name.
Here is Dan's story:
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Today is a short diary, it is about what Seymour has said about the women and children who were held in Abu Ghraib.
On July 8th, 2004, Seymour Hersh addressed the ACLU's annual Membership Conference. Here what he said about the women and children held at Abu Ghraib. :
And I can tell you it was much worse, and the government knows it's much worse, than they’ve even told you. There are worse photos, worse videotapes, worse events.
Some of the worst things that happened that you don’t know about. OK? Videos. There are women there. Some of you may have read that they were passing letters out, communications out to their men. This is at [Abu Ghraib], which is about 30 miles from Baghdad — 30 kilometers, maybe, just 20 miles, I'm not sure whether it's — anyway. The women were passing messages out saying please come and kill me because of what’s happened. And basically what happened is that those women who were arrested with young boys, children, in cases that have been [video] recorded, the boys were sodomized, with the cameras rolling, and the worst above all of them is the soundtrack of the boys shrieking. That your government has, and they’re in total terror it’s going to come out. It’s impossible to say to yourself, how did we get there, who are we, who are these people that sent us there.
I think it is time that all American adults know exactly what happened in your names, in Dan's name. It's going to be horrible and soul-crushing, but I believe it important.
Please, tell your President, tell your Senators, tell your Congressional Representatives : NOT IN MY NAME !
Demand JUSTICE and LEGAL ACCOUNTABILITY !
Standing for justice and accountability,
For Dan,
Heather
I am in the beginning stages of bringing together the people and organizations necessary to organize a March for Accountability. If you are interested, please email me at my address in my profile.
PS: Tomorrow I will be on a radio show in Olympia, Washington, with a member of Veterans for Peace, at 8pm, Pacific, talking about the fight against torture and for accountability. It will also be online, so if you have time and inclination, here's the link:
http://kaos.evergreen.edu/...
Please forgive the brevity of this diary tonight. I had another one already and it didn't save when I went to save it :( Sorry.
I will be away tomorrow (see radio show announcement, and will resume the series on Friday.
Hugs,
For Dan,
Heather