War Crimes (My country is dying.)

[Katherine Brengle]

War Crimes
It's time for the United Nations to step in and charge the United States with war crimes.
by Katherine Brengle

My country is dying.

My country has become cruel, and dangerous, and fraught with corruption. The promise that was America has dwindled from a blazing fire to a pale fluorescent flicker...

Once upon a time, the world looked to us for leadership, for strength and integrity, for hope, for compassion. This image has been shattered. When the United States invaded the nation of Iraq on March 19th, 2003, we shattered that image. When the first photos of prisoners being tortured at Abu Ghraib prison were broadcast on April 30th, 2004, the shards were shattered further. Yesterday, the image finally evaporated.

Yesterday, Australia's SBS TV broadcast additional, more brutal and disturbing, images of prisoner torture by the United States.

While the US media was having a good old time getting hopping mad about Vice President Dick Cheney's hunting accident, it gave this far more important story much less coverage. I too was complicit in this, and for that I am deeply ashamed.

My government has allowed clear human rights violations to take place in my name and in the names of my countrymen. It has made excuses, and allowed a few soldiers to take the blame for a systemic problem, and quibbled about the wording of the Geneva Conventions, and meanwhile, human beings were being beaten and humiliated and tortured at its behest.

This has to stop. The world needs to know that the American public does not support torture. The American people must stand firm and demand accountability from our government, and we must demand that the rest of the world not bow down to the power of the United States.

As an American citizen, and a citizen of the world, I beg for this.

The United States government didn't want the world to see these photos, because they were worried that seeing them would fuel anti-American feelings abroad. What they should be worried about is that the United States is violating the sacred rights of its prisoners to live free of torture and coercion.

The problem lies not in the world seeing these photographs. The problem lies in the policy of the US government to commit war crimes against its prisoners.

Some Americans believe that anything that could potentially hurt al Qaeda is worth doing. Some Americans, especially those in the highest offices of our "democratic" government, believe that anything goes so long as it supports our "war" on terrorism.

The world needs to tell these Americans that this abuse will not stand. Please, hold us accountable. We have invaded, and murdered, and destroyed, and tortured, and we need to be shown that we are not all-powerful. We need to be told that we do not have the right to abuse the world just because we are a powerful nation.

With great power comes great responsibility. The United States is wielding its power without one shred of responsibility. This government is supposed to be of the people, by the people, and for the people--it's time for the people to speak and demand that our leaders be tried in a court of law for what they have done.

Without the rule of law, we have no justice. Without accountability, we have no hope.

[NVMojo]

1. I agree and I cry about it. I feel powerless.

[Katherine Brengle]

2. I was shaking so hard while I was writing... I understand how you feel.

[KT2000]

3. Great Post!

and I agree with you wholeheartedly. I am ashamed of this country - the leadership and the citizens who continue to support them.
I will email my legislators again on this.

[northamericancitizen]

4. Recommended. nt

[ClayZ]

5. We are being terrorized by our own government!

:cry:

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0215-22.htm


Unwarranted Violence Can Never be Right

[Bozita]

6. Great post! ... Thanks n/m

[Harald Ragnarsson]

7. Even if they don't care about the people of other countries

you would think that all Americans would uphold the Geneva Conventions for no other reason than it protects our troops too. The utter disrespect for our own soldiers as well in that regard. They certainly don't "Support the Troops!" as far as I'm concerned.

Much as I hate to say it, I often have the thought run through my mind that in 3 years of war now I have not heard of a single American POW.

I don't think such a thing is possible.

[Citrene]

8. K&R, thank you. n/t. W/O the rule of law we are lost. This is no longer

a partisan issue. Gore said it best. Feingold has said it as well, along with Byrd and many others.

Kucinich might be my personal favorite.

Why do we not get that this nation is in a true crisis and yet we seem to be stuck. And now our "4th estate" is stuck on Cheney and him shooting a friend? Anyone here see anything wrong? The entire media should have been blowing up with everything being revealed this week and instead we are all being force fed. When was Mr. W. shot, when did the White House know it and endless other amounts of blather, why weren't we told sooner? Why is this really news and why are we truly to be impressed with "our" journalists finally going after something "BIG", this is big?

IMVHO Sibel Edmonds is much bigger.

God help us all.

Peace.

[Tsiyu]

9. K & R

Well written

[countryjake]

10. Beautifully stated!

I came to DU earlier today thinking it was the quickest place to find links to those horrific photos. First checked LBN but nothing was there, then the Greatest posts...nothing was there, either. I finally found your topic about them, buried way down in here amongst pages and pages of Cheney posts. And I found that other countries were very concerned about this new release of even more proofs of atrocities, as most of the links were to foreign press sites.

We've got to shout out your call to every congress person, influential activists, international human rights groups, and the same foreign press that is so hot on the torture story! I will not settle for some paltry wrist-slapping over some drunken blunder or whatever occurred down in Texas last weekend; it's not even worth a guffaw.

The crimes of this man and his gang have been off the charts in severity for years already now! That is what I want to hear the anchors saying in their piddling nightly news casts. I've already written to all three of the major networks for their shoddy coverage of these new photos; CNN and MSNBC are next on my list. Why must I go to Australia to see them? Why are the Brits afforded access to images of horrors committed by MY countrymen?

It's time to take the whole lot of them down and STOP this trigger-happy, shooting-up of the earth we live on. The atrocities are there for all to see...we need no more proof than the nation of Iraq, poised over there on the brink of collapse, everything in shambles compared to what once existed. There are millions of witnesses just waiting to step up, innocents who truly could care less why our veep may have wounded his pal with birdshot...people who have dodged MISSILES and BUNKERBUSTERS and 2000 POUND BOMBS and watched their entire neighborhoods crumble into flames, and held their babies, wives, husbands, mothers, fathers, sisters, and brothers as they died bloody, agonizing deaths at the hands and the direction of that same veep.

Your last line says it all, "Without accountability, we have no hope."

TO THE HAGUE WITH BUSH and ALL HIS WAR MONGERS!

Our Peace depends on it!

[izzie]

11. I used to think we were trying to be better but I now wonder

I mean our history has been see the error, Am, Indians, blacks, women and child labor, and try to do better, but we seem to have gone back wards right now. After all we put this man in power.Or enough people wanted him to do it. I can not say we did not know what we were getting. Only had to read Bush's history to see he had not done one thing right in his life. Why would things be any better if we gave him more power? Plus the fact that usually that type man puts the same type in power or to be yes men to him. That is all through history. The thinking of these men is also hard to take. It is greed for money and power for them self above their country.

[Just Me]

12. That's what it feels like: my country is dying. Our nation is losing its,

,...soul. Our government is defrauding and exploiting its own nation and people while spreading horror beyond our borders.

x( It's awful.

[undergroundpanther]

13. I hate it.

It looks to me the Muslim world has blinders on too though. They riot over a a "blasphemous" cartoon created by a non believer..But were is the outrage over RAPE torture of The Iraqi People. Living people being murdered and tortured? I do not understand?

In America people protest over gay marriage kill gay people,kill abortion doctors.. Yet do they kill torturers? Do they riot over torture No? To they riot over torture rendition flights ? No.... WHY?

Torture is the most inexcusable,and yet totally voluntary act of immorality humans can do.. The most evil of all human evils.

Torture morally is far worse than any blasphemy ,any abortions or being gay and wanting to marry..IMHO.Torture and child abuse is the heart of evil. Torture creates the traumas that keep entire societies confused,reacting,exploited,sick, afraid and at war.

NO MORE TORTURE.

[Katherine Brengle]

15. Just keep in mind that the media is the vehicle by which we get info about

the "Muslim" world. Everything isn't as black and white as it may seem...

[undergroundpanther]

16. I know

Nothing is ever simple as the MSM portrays it.

I just wonder why there was no big public outrage with the first Abu Gharib photos got out.

Why did it take a religious offense by a non believer to ignite this outrage? And isn't rioting over a cartoon about a religious figure by someone who does not believe,..while real living people are being tortured for a lie kind of well.. ironically obscene?

Allah is not helping these tortured people any more than Jesus is.


It will take real life flesh and blood human beings to act to stop this torture. Real Ethical human beings with compassion and courage who think torture is wrong..

Religion does not own good human traits even though they like to pretend they do,Religion has done it's share of excusing and rationalizing torture..THis shows in the mixed moral track record of all religions. This shows that religion is not all it's cracked up to be,on a moral level ,regardless of which deity it's about.

Religion saves no one from bullies. However people who do not tolerate bullies and tyrants can rescue victims.Beliefs in gods has nothing to do with a persons desire to stop torture,because atheists that hate torture exist.I am a malthiest and I hate torture and think it is wrong..

[Katherine Brengle]

17. Well, maybe there was outrage--and we didn't see it... blinders... n/t

[placton]

14. Fascism

I remember in 2001 being criticized here for overreacting, and predicting that we were on the way to Hitler's Germany. Well, friends, we are there. I suggest all read books on the coming of the 3rd Reich - the spineless opposition (including Communists, Social Democrats, etc) who "knew" it would all blow over. The US is gone folks, and will never return. Look at Hillary, Birch Bayh, Biden, etc. Frankly, they are little better than Bush.