We should be ashamed

Yesterday the head of the US Southern Command, General Bantz J. Craddock, conceded that we were using 'restraint chairs' to force-feed detainees at Guantanamo. Lawyer's notes from his interview with one detainee quote the detainee as saying, "The head is immobilized by a strap so it can't be moved, their hands are cuffed to the chair and the legs are shackled. They ask, 'Are you going to eat or not?' and if not, they insert the tube. People have been urinating and defecating on themselves in these feedings and vomiting and bleeding. They ask to be allowed to go to the bathroom, but they will not let them go. They have sometimes put diapers on them."

According to General Craddock, the medical staff had indulged the hunger strikers by allowing them to choose the color of their feeding tubes, which are placed in a detainee's stomach via his nose. The former chief medical officer wa awarded a Legion of Merit Medal for 'inspiring leadership and exemplary performance".

Now read this article from the Atlantic for more information which will make you ashamed. This article is based on research by Corine Hegland of National Journal. Some highlights of that research:

• Most are Pakistanis, many of whom were 'sold' as terrorists, not captured on a battlefield as we are led to believe.
• 75 of the 132 who have filed habeus corpus petitions are not even accused of acts against the US.
• It's likely that less than 20% have ever been members of Al Qaeda.
• Evidence against the detainees is hearsay from people without firsthand knowledge.

A Seton Hall study quotes a flier dropped in Afghanistan when some detainees were captured, "Get wealth and power beyond your dreams...You can receive millions of dollars helping the anti-Taliban forces catch al Qaeda and Taliban murderers. This is enough money to take care of your family, your tribe, your village for the rest of your life. Pay for livestock and doctors and school books."

This is the American way? It's not the way I was taught, but it's certainly the way to ensure we are hated in the world - and for these crimes we should be hated.