I'd been against the Guantanamo prisons from the start, way back in 2001, and after hearing torture was being used there, my belief that we were committing a serious wrong increased.
There's a thing about torture, though. You don't really get it until you've seen it up close and personal. That's what Rolling Stone did. And I can say after reading it that I am sick in a way that I haven't known before.
More after the jump...
The story centers around the story of Omar Khadr, a fifteen-year-old who was captured in Afghanistan fighting with his family, had his life saved from the three gunshots he sustained in battle only to be sent to Guantanamo Bay for what has been five years of torture.
The Bush administration classified this kid as an adult, and in CLEAR violation of Geneva, called him a soldier in duty of a national army and CHARGED HIM WITH MURDER. Geneva specifically says that enemy soldiers cannot be charged with crimes like that.
Now, let's add the torture. This includes:
* Sitting prisoners in shackles on a bus floor, telling them not to move, and then when they were jolted by natural movement, beat them.
* Chaining prisoners to the floor so long they piss themselves, then pouring Pine-Sol on the floor with the urine and using the prisoner's head and hair to mop it, returning them to the cell, and leaving them with their stinking clothes.
*Rushing into cells, beating people so bad they are left in a pool of blood, taking them to the infirmary, fixing them, then beating them on their way back to the cell.
*Placing prisoners in cells that are 8X6, with rats crawling all over, defecating on everything, possibly carrying rabies.
*Using other cells where lights are left on 24-7, with no heat supplied to cells and no blankets.
*Ending the prisoner hunger strike by beating an inmate senseless in front of the other inmates.
*Denying prisoners freedom of movement, with only 30 minutes outside each week.
*Binding and masking prisoners, then setting loose the attack dogs on them.
*18-hour interrogations while tied to the floor.
Are you sickened yet? Are you disgusted? Prepare to be even more sickened.
The FBI's complaints that these techniques were disgusting and stupid was ignored. The DOD says only eight percent of detainees have been found to be al-Qaeda. One military intelligence officer said 75% of those in Guantanamo did nothing wrong. Many were sold out for money or to settle old scores, and these cases weren't checked out until years later. Two psychologists in independent reviews say the prisoners will be permanantly damaged, which is what Abu Gonzales said in his 2002 memo was the limits of what they could do. Apparently, he didn't intend to enforce that. Geneva was tossed out the window, along with the boundaries of decent human behavior, that they put a fifteen-year old boy through this torture, let alone anyone else.
I wrote those bullet points from memory, and then looked back at the story to see if I was right. I was. It's seared into my brain, and I am ashamed of our President. He has disgraced the office and the nation, but his supporters will follow him to the grave with the conviction of lemmings. We're going to need a national cleansing after he leaves office, with exposure of what he did and when he did it. This man is no Christian, because no true Christian would authorize such fucking animal barbarism to be unleashed on other human beings.
I don't know what to do to expose this on a level that even wingnuts could understand, but I'm eager to hear suggestions below in comments, and hopefully together we can find a way to stop this madness. Thanks for letting me get this off my chest, Kossacks.