Ashamed to be an American
By DOUG THOMPSON - September 18, 2006
I never thought I would reach the point where I was ashamed of my country.
I was wrong.
I've loved America for most of my 58 years. I've fought for her, killed for her, bled for her and damn near died for her more than once.
I served my country even when I thought she was wrong because I felt it was my duty as an American to do so.
But I can no longer do so. America today has become what we always stood up against: A tyrant, a destroyer of freedom, an international murderer with no regard for human rights or life, no morality and no belief in the rule of law.
America now threatens the peace of the world far more than any terrorist group, any communist country or any tinhorn dictator with a suitcase nuke.
""I lived with the Americans for one year and eight months as if I was living in hell," Baghdad shopkeeper Amjad Qassim al-Aliyawi told The Associated Press after he was released from 20 months in captivity without ever being charged with a crime or even being told what he was suspected of doing.
According to an AP investigative report, the American government holds some 14,000 detainees in secret prisons around the world. Few have any idea why they are held, all are denied legal representation or even given details of the charges against them and many are later released without explanation or even an apology.
"If you, God forbid, are an innocent Afghan who gets sold down the river by some warlord rival, you can end up at Bagram and you have absolutely no way of clearing your name," says John Sifton of Human Rights Watch in New York.
"You can't have a lawyer present evidence, or do anything organized to get yourself out of there."
Evidence continues to mount that many of these prisoners are tortured in ways that violate the Geneva Convention, the international accord that governs how civilized nations are supposed to treat prisoners of war and President George W. Bush reminds us constantly that we at "war" with "terrorism."
But America is really at war with itself, attacked from within by a madman President who claims a divine mission from God, waging a fierce battle against the principles that once guided this nation and set it above those who treated human life with callous disregard and claimed any means, no matter how barbaric, justified the cause.
America is no longer respected by its allies, admired on the world stage or trusted by its own citizens. Polls show an overwhelming majority of Americans think Bush's lies-based war in Iraq was a monumental mistake. Most also think the President of the United States is dishonest and that our government lies to us on a regular basis.
Sadly, they are right. The Iraq war is an incredible FUBAR that has destroyed a nation, created a new haven for terrorists and cost more American lives than the attack on the World Trade Center in New York. Bush is not only a serial liar but an unstable despot whose sanity is increasingly doubted by members of his own family and party. He ignores the will of the people he is supposed to serve, violates international law at will and shreds the Constitution along with the freedoms it once protected.
America has detained without charges, and then released without explanation or apology, nearly 18,700 people since June 2004, the AP investigation found. Many of those released tell horror stories of their treatment while imprisoned, including torture by attaching electrical wires to genital areas, waterboarding (creating the fear of drowning by submerging prisoners), use of dogs and threats of long-term imprisonment.
Waleed Abdul Karim, 26, told the AP how his guards would wield their absolute authority.
"Tell us about the ones who attack Americans in your neighborhood," he quoted an interrogator as saying, "or I will keep you in prison for another 50 years."
Such treatment only fuels hatred towards this country. "I will hate Americans for the rest of my life," Karim said.
I understand why Karim hates Americans and the country they represent. I don't hate America. I love my country but I hate what our so-called leaders have done to her.
Thanks to the illogical, illegal and insane actions of George W. Bush and those who follow him, Americans can no longer hold their heads high and take pride in their country.
Bush and his fellow terrorists have destroyed a great country and I fear the damage may be permanent and irreparable.
DOUG THOMPSON
Story at Capitol Hill Blue - Url.: http://www.capitolhillblue.com/content/2006/09/ashamed_to_be_a.html
FPF - RELATED:
* CHANGE THE US REGIME? - "Brothers and sisters, if you and I would just realize, that once we learn to talk the language that they understand, they will then get the point. You can't ever reach a man if you don't speak his language. If a man speaks the language of brute force, you can't come to him with peace. Why goodnight! He'll break you in two, as he has been doing all along. If a man speaks French, you can't speak to him in German. If he speaks Swahili, you can't communicate with him in Chinese. You have to find out, what does this man speak? Once you know his language, learn how to speak his language. He'll get the point." - Malcom X - on defending human rights. - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/zoora
* GEORGE BUSH II CONFIRMED WHY WE ALL MUST BE AFRAID OF THE US/ISRAELI WAR MACHINE: "Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, AND NEITHER DO WE." - August 5, 2004 - At the signing of the defense act for the fiscal year 2005 (H.R. 4613) - Url.: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/08/20040805-4.html
* DEFINITION OF SEMITES from the Collins English Dictionary - [http://tinyurl.com/zj9y4] - "Semitic: a member of the group of Caucasoid people who speak a Semitic language, including the Jews and Arabs as well as the Ancient Babylonians (Iraqis), the Assyrians (Syria), and the Phoenicians (the Lebanese of today). Semitic: a branch or sub-family of languages that includes Arabic, Aramaic, Hebrew.” - Palestinians and Lebanese for instance are semites. The JDL cliché: "anti semitism' has always been a fake accusation, abused to kill debates too in the past. Not anymore. What the US/Israeli war machine is doing is anti semitism on a global scale.
* RELATED: BACKGROUND LINKS TO THOSE RESPONSIBLE - If after checking a factual error is found, pls. send an email so it can be corrected. - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/fhln9
* The Dutch author this far has worked abroad for more than 4 decades for international media as an independent foreign correspondent, of which 10 years - also during Gulf War I - in the Arab World and the Middle East. Having practical experience of coups and the obscenity of war: seeing worldwide that every bullet and every bomb breeds more terrorism!
* FPF-COPYRIGHT NOTICE - In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107 - any copyrighted work in this message is distributed by the Foreign Press Foundation under fair use, without profit or payment, to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the information. Url.: http://liimirror.warwick.ac.uk/uscode/17/107.html
FOREIGN PRESS FOUNDATION
Editor: Henk Ruyssenaars
http://tinyurl.com/jwgqa
The Netherlands
fpf@chello.nl
-0-
I never thought I would reach the point where I was ashamed of my country.
I was wrong.
I've loved America for most of my 58 years. I've fought for her, killed for her, bled for her and damn near died for her more than once.
I served my country even when I thought she was wrong because I felt it was my duty as an American to do so.
But I can no longer do so. America today has become what we always stood up against: A tyrant, a destroyer of freedom, an international murderer with no regard for human rights or life, no morality and no belief in the rule of law.
America now threatens the peace of the world far more than any terrorist group, any communist country or any tinhorn dictator with a suitcase nuke.
""I lived with the Americans for one year and eight months as if I was living in hell," Baghdad shopkeeper Amjad Qassim al-Aliyawi told The Associated Press after he was released from 20 months in captivity without ever being charged with a crime or even being told what he was suspected of doing.
According to an AP investigative report, the American government holds some 14,000 detainees in secret prisons around the world. Few have any idea why they are held, all are denied legal representation or even given details of the charges against them and many are later released without explanation or even an apology.
"If you, God forbid, are an innocent Afghan who gets sold down the river by some warlord rival, you can end up at Bagram and you have absolutely no way of clearing your name," says John Sifton of Human Rights Watch in New York.
"You can't have a lawyer present evidence, or do anything organized to get yourself out of there."
Evidence continues to mount that many of these prisoners are tortured in ways that violate the Geneva Convention, the international accord that governs how civilized nations are supposed to treat prisoners of war and President George W. Bush reminds us constantly that we at "war" with "terrorism."
But America is really at war with itself, attacked from within by a madman President who claims a divine mission from God, waging a fierce battle against the principles that once guided this nation and set it above those who treated human life with callous disregard and claimed any means, no matter how barbaric, justified the cause.
America is no longer respected by its allies, admired on the world stage or trusted by its own citizens. Polls show an overwhelming majority of Americans think Bush's lies-based war in Iraq was a monumental mistake. Most also think the President of the United States is dishonest and that our government lies to us on a regular basis.
Sadly, they are right. The Iraq war is an incredible FUBAR that has destroyed a nation, created a new haven for terrorists and cost more American lives than the attack on the World Trade Center in New York. Bush is not only a serial liar but an unstable despot whose sanity is increasingly doubted by members of his own family and party. He ignores the will of the people he is supposed to serve, violates international law at will and shreds the Constitution along with the freedoms it once protected.
America has detained without charges, and then released without explanation or apology, nearly 18,700 people since June 2004, the AP investigation found. Many of those released tell horror stories of their treatment while imprisoned, including torture by attaching electrical wires to genital areas, waterboarding (creating the fear of drowning by submerging prisoners), use of dogs and threats of long-term imprisonment.
Waleed Abdul Karim, 26, told the AP how his guards would wield their absolute authority.
"Tell us about the ones who attack Americans in your neighborhood," he quoted an interrogator as saying, "or I will keep you in prison for another 50 years."
Such treatment only fuels hatred towards this country. "I will hate Americans for the rest of my life," Karim said.
I understand why Karim hates Americans and the country they represent. I don't hate America. I love my country but I hate what our so-called leaders have done to her.
Thanks to the illogical, illegal and insane actions of George W. Bush and those who follow him, Americans can no longer hold their heads high and take pride in their country.
Bush and his fellow terrorists have destroyed a great country and I fear the damage may be permanent and irreparable.
DOUG THOMPSON
Story at Capitol Hill Blue - Url.: http://www.capitolhillblue.com/content/2006/09/ashamed_to_be_a.html
FPF - RELATED:
* CHANGE THE US REGIME? - "Brothers and sisters, if you and I would just realize, that once we learn to talk the language that they understand, they will then get the point. You can't ever reach a man if you don't speak his language. If a man speaks the language of brute force, you can't come to him with peace. Why goodnight! He'll break you in two, as he has been doing all along. If a man speaks French, you can't speak to him in German. If he speaks Swahili, you can't communicate with him in Chinese. You have to find out, what does this man speak? Once you know his language, learn how to speak his language. He'll get the point." - Malcom X - on defending human rights. - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/zoora
* GEORGE BUSH II CONFIRMED WHY WE ALL MUST BE AFRAID OF THE US/ISRAELI WAR MACHINE: "Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, AND NEITHER DO WE." - August 5, 2004 - At the signing of the defense act for the fiscal year 2005 (H.R. 4613) - Url.: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/08/20040805-4.html
* DEFINITION OF SEMITES from the Collins English Dictionary - [http://tinyurl.com/zj9y4] - "Semitic: a member of the group of Caucasoid people who speak a Semitic language, including the Jews and Arabs as well as the Ancient Babylonians (Iraqis), the Assyrians (Syria), and the Phoenicians (the Lebanese of today). Semitic: a branch or sub-family of languages that includes Arabic, Aramaic, Hebrew.” - Palestinians and Lebanese for instance are semites. The JDL cliché: "anti semitism' has always been a fake accusation, abused to kill debates too in the past. Not anymore. What the US/Israeli war machine is doing is anti semitism on a global scale.
* RELATED: BACKGROUND LINKS TO THOSE RESPONSIBLE - If after checking a factual error is found, pls. send an email so it can be corrected. - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/fhln9
* The Dutch author this far has worked abroad for more than 4 decades for international media as an independent foreign correspondent, of which 10 years - also during Gulf War I - in the Arab World and the Middle East. Having practical experience of coups and the obscenity of war: seeing worldwide that every bullet and every bomb breeds more terrorism!
* FPF-COPYRIGHT NOTICE - In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107 - any copyrighted work in this message is distributed by the Foreign Press Foundation under fair use, without profit or payment, to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the information. Url.: http://liimirror.warwick.ac.uk/uscode/17/107.html
FOREIGN PRESS FOUNDATION
Editor: Henk Ruyssenaars
http://tinyurl.com/jwgqa
The Netherlands
fpf@chello.nl
-0-
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