Obama: The United States expects you to adhere to the highest moral standards with regard to human rights.
Castro: You want us to take on the same standards as the US?
Obama: Yes. It is necessary before we can seriously consider normalizing relations with your country.
Castro: Let me make sure I understand what you are asking. You expect us to hold prisoners indefinitely, without charges or an opportunity to petition the court. You want us to torture people and invade other countries if we don’t like their government. I’m really sorry but we can’t lower our standards that much.
The United States wants to require other countries to treat people better. Can the laughter be heard around the world?
I am embarrassed by our refusal to hold ourselves to the same moral standards we hold others. I am humiliated by our position toward Cuba when we are holding prisoners for years without charges, all the while torturing them, humiliating them and treating them less than human.
The torture memos are my greatest nightmares come true. We used reprehensible techniques on a child 13 years old – guilty of nothing, but being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I hear talking heads excusing the actions by talking about 9/11 and our state of mind. Well damn it, it’s easy to take the moral high ground when things are easy. The real test of who we are is how we behave when things are tough, how we treat others when we are stressed and scared.
We failed the test in all the worst ways. I don’t care if torture works or not it is wrong. It is always wrong and it will always be wrong. I would rather die in another 9/11 attack than to have the torture of people on my conscience. I was not one simply ‘following orders’ (haven’t we heard that somewhere before?) but it is still as much my fault as it is the person pouring the water onto another human being to simulate drowning.
President Obama should not have the right to provide immunity to anyone, until we know the extent of what we did in the name if Homeland Security. A special prosecutor should be appointed to investigate and those who failed this country, those who shredded our constitution and ignored our laws must be held accountable.
If we do not prosecute those who broke the law and damaged our country almost beyond repair, we will never be able to take a moral stand on issues of human rights without hearing the laughter of the rest of the world as they remember our torture, and inhumanity. If ever there was a time when we should look back and take responsibility it is now. If we the people do not speak up for others, who will speak for us when someday we are in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Values are only values if you live by them, even when it is hard and we are scared.