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There already is enough information and pictures posted to sicken anyone who cares about human values much less the Geneva Convention. Even without those guidelines, I would have hoped that all those that serve the USA in any capacity would have at least had some honor. It does not matter whether they serve in uniform, as an elected official, or in any capacity representing this country, they know what this country has stood for.
I am literally sick at what has been done. I feel like I have entered an alternate universe as I read more and see more. Those that have sanctioned this have to be brought to account. Those that carried it out have to be dealt with as well. Nuremburg wasn't just a morality play for us to witness. It stands as an example that should shame us all.
People in this country do not realize what has been done in their name. We weren't just torturing people to get some bit of information. That's bad enough because it is a specious argument that pretends that it works. Prisoners that we had under our control were brutalized. Those that defend what has been done are minimizing the damage.
I am afraid that the only thing that will drive home the enormity of our actions will be the pictures. I know there will be an uproar that will not help in our dealings with Muslims. However, those pictures will see the light of day. We can either release them, own it, and deal with what happened or we can let them drip over us for days and months to come. We can let other countries hold up our actions and censor us for both letting it happen and for doing nothing about it. Letting it happen is bad enough, but to take no action is the much greater sin.
People in this country and in our military are too decent to stand for this. We were scared into a war and into for all practical purposes giving up our rights. Will we be scared into giving up our decency and dignity too? People who are upset seem to be sheeping around and waiting for some one person to take the lead. It is apparent that we will have to take the lead as a group. How that will happen remains to be seen.
My father fought in WWII. He was in the area of Malmedy, and it is probably sheer luck that he didn't get caught in the horror there. What was done there by the Germans was brutal and wanton destruction. Those that carried it out were tried. I cannot imagine that those responsible would have been allowed to carry on as if nothing had happened after the war.
I don't believe that my father would countenance what has been done by us. I can imagine him being confused and in disbelief for a while. However, he was not one to suffer fools. Once the story was known, I think he would have been a very angry and disappointed man. He didn't spend years of his life fighting for a country that would be so quick to abandon its principles. I believe he would have wondered where this nation had gone and would have demanded that a public accounting be held.
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