A German is accusing the United States of torturing him while in American custody. Murat Kurnaz says he was hung by his arms from ceiling rafters at an aircraft hanger in Kandahar, Afghanistan in freezing conditions. He also said physicians assisted with the torture. This lasted for five days. Kurnaz was eventually transported to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, held for five years and released.
Following the 9/11 attacks our government offered bounties to Afghanis for Arabs living in their country. As a result any Arab there at the time was liable to be arrested, tortured and detained at Gitmo for nothing more than the mistake of his ethnicity. A taxi driver in Afghanistan was tortured to death.
President Bush keeps insisting "we do not torture." John McCain, a victim of torture himself while a prisoner of war, voted to authorize torture earlier this year. Using torture against our perceived enemies means our own soldiers, sailors and airmen would also be subject to such inhumane treatment. Is this what you want for your children, grandchildren or other family members?
Such information degrades our country, our hallowed principles of human rights, and only creates more embittered enemies determined to seek revenge. This creates more terrorists, not fewer. Honor is a most valued principle among these cultures and dishonoring families and people demands revenge. We keep asking why these people hate us and why they attack us so let's remember these actions when it happens again. Yes, we do sow the seeds of terrorism and motivate attacks against us by terrorists by our actions and inactions.
Ignoring the desperate plights of the world's poor while flaunting our riches also creates enormous resentment. Refusing to share our wealth with the world's poor also breeds terrorism and hatred. The world sees us as greedy and selfish in our foreign policy, our refusal to provide a level of aid anywhere near comparable with other western democracies. We're a target because we make ourselves a target. We then wonder why we get hit....
Murat Kurnaz, one day, will be one of these reasons.
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