i have been speaking out against the american secret prisons since this blog began. i had no idea the scope and the breadth of these facilities. we have heard much about guantanamo bay and abu ghraib and bits and pieces about facilities in eastern europe. my question is why aren't we more upset about 'renditions' and torture and illegal detaining? does it not occur to american citizens that illegally kidnapping and detaining indefinitely might not happen here in america- as it apparently has in europe and the middle east? recently, it has been proven that at least 14 nations in the european union have colluded with america in the kidnapping and illegally detaining of their own citizens- against the tenets of the geneva conventions. america has decided that these international laws don't apply to us- so there.
here is a list of the 14 nations colluding with america:
britain. germany, sweden, spain, ireland, portugal, italy, romania, poland, greece, cyprus, turkey, bosnia, and macedonia.
currently members of NATO:
italy, portugal, britain, greece, turkey, germany, spain, poland, romania.
currently partner countries with NATO:
sweden, ireland, macedonia, azerbaijan.
here is a partial list of known and suspected secret prisons:
cuba, jordan, syria, afghanistan, iraq, morrocco, egypt, saudi arabia, thailand, qatar, azerbaijan, oman, north africa, yemen, poland, romania. cia has also used naval ships anchored in the indian ocean.
america was recently evicted from uzbekistan after establishing a military base there. america has been quietly sending aid to the central asian countries- turkmenistan, tajikistan, uzbekistan, kazakhstan, and kyrgyzstan. oddly enough, they are also among the partner countries of NATO.
recently, it was announced that NATO would be taking a bigger role in afghanistan, iraq and lebanon- as a security force. israel is open to this idea- oddly enough, israel has been recently seeking to expand its role within NATO- as it is currently a 'mediterranean dialogue' country.
my thought is simply this- we are no longer the america once looked to by the world as a beacon of freedom and democracy. we had an opportunity to work together with the world to fight terrorism as a unified bloc and we threw it away. instead of taking a common sense approach to combating the terrorist organizations, we have chosen to isolate ourselves and use terrorist tactics ourselves- kidnapping, illegally detaining, torturing and killing people who may or may not even be terrorists. we are sacrificing our freedoms and our integrity for power grabbing and oil profits. we no longer have the respect of the rest of the world- and my question is- can we respect ourselves? scarier yet- will we do this to americans? this is not a 'war' that we can win by bombing the crap out of people. this is a war that we need to fight as we have fought domestic terrorists here at home- covert operations, infiltration, and coalition building. this isn't a war we can win with tanks, artillary and ground troops. torture is not the way to get credible information and it cheapens the democracy that we have cherished. we now have a big mess to clean up- let's just hope that it isn't too late.
secret prisons timeline
11 comments:
Great post, Betmo. I understand a new law is being proposed that will allow Homeland Security to imprison U.S. citizens that they believe are terrorists or aiding terrorists. They will be able to do this without courts or trials or any access to the legal system. Didn't we fight against this in WWII?
What! The Bush administration doing something illegal???? NOOOOO!
thanks guys! phew quasar- i need to sit down. i have to read your comments again. thanks :)
I don't think its that we don't speak out, its priorities and for the most part its on the back burner. I mean, we got a boatload of doo-doo on our collective plate lately..
I could spend a sleepless month blogging about the atrocities our administration is engaged in..seriously.
Excellent read my friend! Shame on us. I for one will not sit idly by as they fill these prisons with whomever they choose for whatever reason. I ahve been writing and calling my congress(people) and writing them letters via email. I will not lie down, for if I (we) do we may find ourselves on a cot in a gitmo type cell!
When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.
When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.
When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.
When they came for the Jews,
I did not speak out;
I was not a Jew.
When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.
Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892-1984)
During the 1930`s, the sociopaths that were "leading" Germany began to build prisons and "camps". They installed armed guards at every public office. Their military consumed most of their taxes. It was against the law to criticise the state. They began to invade other countries. They lied to their people.
Peace.
Keep praying for all the innocent victims in Lebanon and Isreal.
-- FreeCyprus
http://hellenic-reporter.blogspot.com/
Very good. I too will be writing my congress people. What else can I do?
mary, that's the $64,000 question.
It is grim to see Britain and Ireland on the list. A recent poll here shows that people do want the UK to be less tied to the USA when it comes to foreign policy
Many in the CIA bitterly oppose the brutality of the rendition and third country torture progams. Many have already quit the CIA because of it.
Its interesting that there has been more in the European/UK press about these issues than in the American (and Australian) press. It seems there is some editorial censorship in the US/Australia after all.
Pete
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