It's Not Just Iraq
Last night the President of the United States spoke to the nation and reported his new and improved plan for the war in Iraq. Basically, the plan calls for more troops and more heated rhetoric (at the very least) for Iran and Syria. Today the mainstream media and the blog world are spilling a lot of ink and electrons parsing the speech and the public's reaction to it. That is appropriate, as it is whenever a president gives a policy speech.
It is especially appropriate in this case because the President has made the Irag War the centerpiece of his administration. He is the Commander in Chief, as he rarely fails to mention, given half a chance. The implication is that the president is the all-powerful leader. The "Battle for Baghdad" is just the latest manifestation of this.
However important the actual Iraq War is to the President and to the nation, and it is crucial, it also serves as a symbol for what this administration has done to this nation and to the world. Molly Ivins gives a pretty good indication of what I mean in her January 4, 2007 column.
What happened to the nation that never tortured? The nation that wasn't supposed to start wars of choice? The nation that respected human rights and life? A nation that from the beginning was against tyranny? Where have we gone? How did we let these people take us there? How did we let them fool us?
It's a monstrous idea to put people in prison and keep them there. Since 1215, civil authorities have been obligated to tell people with what they are charged if they're arrested. This administration has done away with rights first enshrined in the Magna Carta nearly 800 years ago, and we've let them do it. [Emphasis in the original]
Today's Los Angeles Times gives a prime example of what this means in concrete terms. The piece is a compilation of excerpts from letters a man currently held in Guantanamo Bay wrote to his attorneys. Just how far this nation has deteriorated is suggested by the tag line the Times included with the article: "Its contents have been deemed unclassified by the Department of Defense." How ominous is that?
In January 2002, I was picked up in Pakistan, blindfolded, shackled, drugged and loaded onto a plane flown to Cuba. When we got off the plane in Guantanamo, we did not know where we were. They took us to Camp X-Ray and locked us in cages with two buckets — one empty and one filled with water. We were to urinate in one and wash in the other.
At Guantanamo, soldiers have assaulted me, placed me in solitary confinement, threatened to kill me, threatened to kill my daughter and told me I will stay in Cuba for the rest of my life. They have deprived me of sleep, forced me to listen to extremely loud music and shined intense lights in my face. They have placed me in cold rooms for hours without food, drink or the ability to go to the bathroom or wash for prayers. They have wrapped me in the Israeli flag and told me there is a holy war between the Cross and the Star of David on one hand and the Crescent on the other. They have beaten me unconscious.
How disgusting is that? Five years and still no charges and no trial.
That is what the "Unitary Presidency" has brought us. It's time we did something about it.
It is especially appropriate in this case because the President has made the Irag War the centerpiece of his administration. He is the Commander in Chief, as he rarely fails to mention, given half a chance. The implication is that the president is the all-powerful leader. The "Battle for Baghdad" is just the latest manifestation of this.
However important the actual Iraq War is to the President and to the nation, and it is crucial, it also serves as a symbol for what this administration has done to this nation and to the world. Molly Ivins gives a pretty good indication of what I mean in her January 4, 2007 column.
What happened to the nation that never tortured? The nation that wasn't supposed to start wars of choice? The nation that respected human rights and life? A nation that from the beginning was against tyranny? Where have we gone? How did we let these people take us there? How did we let them fool us?
It's a monstrous idea to put people in prison and keep them there. Since 1215, civil authorities have been obligated to tell people with what they are charged if they're arrested. This administration has done away with rights first enshrined in the Magna Carta nearly 800 years ago, and we've let them do it. [Emphasis in the original]
Today's Los Angeles Times gives a prime example of what this means in concrete terms. The piece is a compilation of excerpts from letters a man currently held in Guantanamo Bay wrote to his attorneys. Just how far this nation has deteriorated is suggested by the tag line the Times included with the article: "Its contents have been deemed unclassified by the Department of Defense." How ominous is that?
In January 2002, I was picked up in Pakistan, blindfolded, shackled, drugged and loaded onto a plane flown to Cuba. When we got off the plane in Guantanamo, we did not know where we were. They took us to Camp X-Ray and locked us in cages with two buckets — one empty and one filled with water. We were to urinate in one and wash in the other.
At Guantanamo, soldiers have assaulted me, placed me in solitary confinement, threatened to kill me, threatened to kill my daughter and told me I will stay in Cuba for the rest of my life. They have deprived me of sleep, forced me to listen to extremely loud music and shined intense lights in my face. They have placed me in cold rooms for hours without food, drink or the ability to go to the bathroom or wash for prayers. They have wrapped me in the Israeli flag and told me there is a holy war between the Cross and the Star of David on one hand and the Crescent on the other. They have beaten me unconscious.
How disgusting is that? Five years and still no charges and no trial.
That is what the "Unitary Presidency" has brought us. It's time we did something about it.
Labels: Guantanamo Bay, Iraq War
posted by Diane at 1:10 PM
1 Comments:
That is what the "Unitary Presidency" has brought us.
I read that as the "Urinary Presidency", which kinda works too...
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