A Patriotic American Speaks - please share this if worthy

Dear World,

I am a citizen of the United States of America. As such, I am directly responsible for the treatment of Iraqi Prisoners, Afghan Prisoners, and all other international prisoners by the United States of America. I believe in the Geneva Conventions, but I admit to not being surprised that the President of the United States and the Secretary of Defense used members of Halliburton, CACI International, Titan Corp., and other American Contractors to do an end-run around these Conventions. (Attempts to make scapegoats of enlisted personnel notwithstanding)

I have always considered myself a patriotic American. In 2000 I was concerned by the way the Presidential Election was handled. The true will of the people seemed less important than winning, and the Supreme Court’s decision to step in and halt the counting of votes struck me as decidedly un-Democratic. But protestors were told to Get Over It and ridiculed, and so I kept quiet.

As a patriotic American, I was a bit uncomfortable with the way The Patriot Act was rammed through Congress after 9/11. I equated giving away our Civil Liberties to giving in to the terrorists. But then I was told that by not signing on, I must have something to hide. And so I signed on.

As a patriotic American I supported the war against Afghanistan, but I did have some reservations about Gauntanamo Bay. It seemed worrisome to set up a prison outside of the rule of law, shrouded in mystery without citizen oversight. But I was told that to worry about terrorists was to be a traitor to my country, and so I shut up.

As a patriotic American I found myself opposed to going to war in Iraq. But I listened to the Bush Administration say that protesting the war was un-American, and so after attending a candle light vigil, I prayed out loud for the troops and silently for the Iraqi people and then attempted to be supportive of our military, like all patriotic Americans.

As a patriotic American I saw the pictures of the Iraqi detainees and I cried.

For the past three and a half years I have been confronted with things I knew were not right, but I wanted to be considered a patriotic American and so I was silent.

Now, as a patriotic American, I am a supporter of torture.

Please forgive me.

Are we afraid Afghans will steal all the Afghani if we keep it in bank vaults?

:kick: