I was reading Five Years of My Life: An Innocent Man in Guantanamo, by Murat Kurnaz, when I came across a passage about Kurnaz being subjected to gruesome electric shock torture at the hands of America's brave volunteer warriors. After passing out and being tossed back in his cell to sleep it off, Kurnaz was soon awakened by harrowing screams.
He saw two valiant American soldiers hitting a man who was lying on the ground-his head wrapped in a blanket. Five more patriotic heroes eventually joined in on the beating, hitting the man's head with the butts of their rifles and kicking him with their heavy boots. "Then," says Kurnaz, "they walked away, leaving him lying there."
The next morning, the man was still lying in the same spot: in a pool of blood. It wasn't until later that afternoon that four US officers came to inspect him and an escort team earned their yellow ribbons by taking away his lifeless body.
"I wondered to myself if had any children," writes Kurnaz. "Whether his mother and father would ever find out that he had been beaten to death. At that moment, I didn't care whether it was him or me. My life was worth nothing more than his. I'd understood for quite some time what this camp was about. They could do with us what they pleased. And I might be next."
Even if the man who was beaten was death was proven-beyond a
reasonable doubt-to be personally responsible for 9/11, how can anyone
but a sociopath justify such treatment? Can anyone but a sadistic
criminal justify the existence of "Gitmo"? How much more will it take
before everyday Americans collectively hang their heads in shame over
this ongoing crime and the many other examples of their (sic) nation's contemptible conduct?
Are
any of you ashamed of the epidemics of preventable diseases like
cancer, heart disease, diabetes, etc.? What about the poisoning of our
air, water, and food (including mother's breast milk); the one-third of
Americans uninsured or underinsured when it comes to health care; the
fact that 61% of US corporations do not even pay taxes; the
presidential lies, electoral fraud, limited debates, and so on; the
largest prison population on the planet; corporate control of public
land, public airwaves, public pensions; overt infringement of our civil
liberties; bloated defense budget, unilateral military interventions,
war crimes committed in our name, legalization of torture, blah blah
blah?
What will it take before you are wholeheartedly ashamed to be American?
Ask
yourself these two questions: 1. Do I feel the planet is in peril? 2.
Do I believe that those in power-those most responsible for the planet
being in peril-will relinquish power voluntarily?
If you
answered "yes" to number one and "no" to number two, I have one more
question for you: How much are you willing to endure before you take
serious, sustained action?
Writings 
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