Does that seem like too much to ask ? I guess all too many of us are used to being treated as a number instead of as a person. That maybe one of the reasons so many Americans just shrug off the acts of Torture committed in our names. We have become jaded, used to being abused by people in authority in a regular basis.
One of the people we have abused wants to know why. Hell, I want to know why we treated a human being this way.
ON NEW YEAR'S EVE in 2003, I was seized at the border of Serbia and Macedonia by Macedonian police who mistakenly believed that I was traveling on a false German passport. I was detained incommunicado for more than three weeks. Then I was handed over to the American Central Intelligence Agency and was stripped, severely beaten, shackled, dressed in a diaper, injected with drugs, chained to the floor of a plane and flown to Afghanistan, where I was imprisoned in a foul dungeon for more than four months.
Long after the American government realized that I was an entirely innocent man, I was blindfolded, put back on a plane, flown to Europe and left on a hilltop in Albania — without any explanation or apology for the nightmare that I had endured.
This is the story of Khaled El-Masri, a man denied his day in court. His day in court was cut short by claims that to even discuss his case would disclose States Secrets. It has been a policy of this nation in the past, that the government cannot hide behind States Secrets to avoid being embarassed. This case plainly should be a embarassment to the CIA, and by extention, this Administration.
Khaled El-Masri has taken his case to the people. This article in the LA Times is written by him. His first hand account of what happen to him, how he feels about it, and what he would like to see done about it. Unless the Supreme Court decides to hear his case, he may have to wait until Germany captures and trys the members of the CIA it is trying to indict.
El-Masri, a German citizen says above all , he wants some answers. He is the gentleman that has tried to sue George Tenet, with the help of the ACLU. He is baffled by his treatment. We should be as confused by it as he is but we aren't. I used the word Jaded but it goes deeper than that. Look into your own hearts and tell me you haven't come to expect this type of behavior from not only the CIA, but also from your local police, the FBI, the State Troopers that pull you over, the courts that send people to jail for more time for drugs than for murder. We are infected with fear and apathy.
Yesterday on the Frontpage of DailyKos I saw Hunter surrender to what he feels will the "endgame" of Iraq. I have had those feeling myself, and I hate them. I believe Hunter hates them also. What has become our reality is twisted. It has been twisted by the abuses of those in authority, and validated by our courts. Lead into a war by lies and fear I am appalled by the apathy to hold those responsible accountable. After the Nov. election Americans expected action. Actions that should have lead more than just a non-binding resolution.
What George Bush, Dick Cheney, and Rumsfeld did is much worse than anything Nixon did. The impeachment of Bill Clinton pales when held side by side to GW Bushs crimes. For years we listened as Democratic leaders, even while forced to hold hearing in basements, promised us justice if they were put back in power. Now that they got their wish, over some damn near impossible odds, John Conyers has bailed on his promises and he is only one of many.
The Centrist wing of our party wants no part of Justice. They cower in fear that there might be some blowback. Blowback my ass, the blowback will come in the form of us all being subjected to the same kind of treatment that to date has been reserved for illegal immigrants, and so called suspected terrorists. I digress, let me return to this question of Al-Masris. After you read this question, ask yourself how you would answer your own child, or sister if they asked you these things ?
The U.S. government does not deny that I was wrongfully kidnapped. Instead, it has argued in court that my case must be dismissed because any litigation of my claims will expose state secrets and jeopardize American security, even though President Bush has told the world about the CIA's detention program, and even though my allegations have been corroborated by eyewitnesses and other evidence. To my amazement and dismay, last May, a federal district court judge agreed with the government and threw out my case. And then Friday, the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that decision. It seems that the only place in the world where my case cannot be discussed is in a U.S. courtroom.
I did not bring this lawsuit to harm America. I brought the lawsuit because I want to know why America harmed me. I don't understand why the strongest nation on Earth believes that acknowledging a mistake will threaten its security. Isn't it more likely that showing the world that America cannot give justice to an innocent victim of its anti-terror policies will cause harm to America's image and security around the world?
Our Anti-Terror policys should turn the collective stomaches of every American. Let me share a bit of another article I read yesterday about a self confessed American Torturer by the name Tony Lagouranis.
We were getting prisoners who had gotten seriously fucked up. We were getting prisoners from the navy SEALs who were using a lot of the same techniques we were using, except they were a little more harsh. They would actually have the detainee stripped nude, laying on the floor, pouring ice water over his body. They were taking his temperature with a rectal thermometer. We had one guy who had been burned by the navy SEALs. He looked like he had a lighter held up to his legs. One guy’s feet were like huge and black and blue, his toes were obviously all broken, he couldn’t walk.Confession
Lagouranis's story is a hard one for me. There is something about it that tells me I'm not getting anything close to the whole truth so I have held back on writing about it. While he may deserve some credit for coming forward, I refuse to make a hero of him.
I refuse to be forced to hang my head in shame when my grandchildren ask me what I did to preserve our nation. It's time to stop hiding behind our fears and step up to defend our Constitution, our Nation. The hell with hiding behind embarrassing States Secrets, Fuck the blowback over Impeachment. It is our moral duty to leave this country to our seeds in better shape than it was given to us. To allow Bush et al to ESCAPE impeachment, trial, and yes even jail or the death penalty, if found guilty, is to leave our country floundering. Stop rationalizing ways to "just move on". Stand up and be counted, or when your children ask you what you did be prepared to say you were a coward, a traitor, and then my I suggest you go fall on your own sword. That will be the only honorable thing left to you. Anything short of that, to put it as clearly as I can, is BULLSHIT.