So we are THAT country. We are the country that doesn't bring charges against our leaders when we commit crimes against humanity, when we commit war crimes. We harbor our war criminals and let them live their lives out with their great wealth and their families. We allow them to watch their grandkids grow up and to collect honors and dividends. We allow them to sit back in Wyoming and Texas fishing and painting (badly). We listen as the media excitedly gets an interview with George W. Bush, Dick Cheney or Karl Rove to hear their opinions of current events, not once mentioning a complete lack of credibility since they are indeed war criminals. We pretend that isn't the case. We pretend they have something of value to say. We pretend they did nothing wrong.
George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Karl Rove and the CIA, and the rest of the Bush administration involved acted in the name of all United States citizens. They used tax payer money to fund their war crimes, but we don't demand they pay for these crimes. They are privileged old white men. We are willing to turn a blind eye and in doing so we become complicit. Our apathy and blindness to the truth makes us guilty as a nation. If we don't serve justice upon the guilty and bring justice for the victims, we are guilty. We are saying to the world that America does not respect torture victims, we don't respect our own laws, and we certainly don't respect international law. We are saying to our politicians that they can commit the most atrocious acts without any real life consequences. Go ahead. Do it again. You get a free pass. Guess what, there should not be a free pass for torture.
George W. Bush is a criminal. Dick Cheney is a criminal. They broke U.S. laws. They broke international law. They authorized the torture of detainees. They are all criminals. The Torture Report that was released by the Senate describes the vile and inhumane tactics used…more cruel than anything I imagined…waterboarding someone 183 times until his abdomen was distended, forced nudity, and rectal feeding. It is heartbreaking, devastating and disgusting at least to me, as an American, as a world citizen, and as a human. This was done in my name. It was done in your name. When did we become the country that would allow these atrocities and not hold those guilty responsible? I feel shame that this happened, but I also feel so ashamed that we are not attempting to bring justice for the victims. We are protecting war criminals. This is not the United States of America, the home of the free and the brave. We are now the home of apathetic cowards for not prosecuting our human rights violating, above-the-law criminals.