WaPo reports that, "Twenty-seven religious leaders, including megachurch pastor Rick Warren, Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel and Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick of Washington, have signed a statement urging the United States to 'abolish torture now -- without exceptions.'
The statement, being published in newspaper advertisements starting today, is the opening salvo of a new organization called the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, which has formed in response to allegations of human rights abuse at U.S. detention centers in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba."
Further, the "signers come from a broad range of denominations and include notable religious conservatives, such as the Rev. Ted Haggard, president of the National Association of Evangelicals; Archbishop Demetrios, primate of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America; and the Rev. William J. Byron, former president of Catholic University."
The White House's reaction is to simply tell lies: "Deputy White House press secretary Dana Perino said the administration has 'the utmost respect for all these religious leaders.' But, she said, 'I'll simply repeat what the president has said many times, which is that this government does not torture, and we adhere to the international conventions against torture. That is our policy, and it will remain our policy.'"
It's rare that I give cudos to folks such as McCarrick, (who appears to be equivocating a bit in any event) but in this case, they're spot on. Torture is wrong and the United States should not be engaged in torture. And we are torturing people in secret and not-so-secret detention centers all over the world. No one believes the White House's lies.
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Policy is as policy does. The policy is whatever is allowed to happen, not what exists on paper. The government has gone to extreme lengths to scupper legislation banning torture. It has now even removed references to torture from the military handbook, which serves as a policy guide to soldiers.
I'm not an evangelical, but I do know about Rick Warren. He has made a gizillion dollars from authoring books. And he gives it all away. He lives the same lifestyle he did before he became a bigshot. Compared to some of the pro-torture, pro-war, 'so rich the money is dripping down my chin' evangelicals, I'll go with Rick Warren in an instant. Nothing beats someone with the courage to actually live what they believe, and that includes his stance on torture. He's also a friend of politicians on both sides including George Bush with whom he has dinner. This makes Rick Warren's current actions even more credible.
Republican Senator Arlen Specter stated on Sunday regarding Guantanamo, “some prisoners are being held on the flimsiest sort of hearsay”. And he was putting it politely, compared to say, the British government, who now virtually demand that Guantanamo is shut down. At least Senator Specter has the courage not to ignorantly defend the indefensible.
Many/most Americans have no idea about the dubious nature regarding the circumstances of why many people ended up being tortured in Guantanamo. Many people arrived in Guantanamo because they were denounced by neighbors and personal enemies… for cash rewards.
The Tipton Three were realeased from Guantanamo Bay Prison after two years of torture... released after the British Secret Service informed the U.S. government that the three were actually still in Britain at the time they were supposed to be having meetings with Al Quaeda. The British government was obviously so worried to have them back in Britain, that it sent the police (not secret agents) around to question them for a couple of hours. The police, who had already spoken with the Secret Service, reported that they could find nothing to suggest that they were a danger to British society.
Guantanamo is a total disgrace and a PR catastrophe for the United States. The existence of Guantanamo Bay Prison is the real threat to the safety of Americans. Its' existence is a recruiting magnet for terrorism worldwide. To allow your enemies to exploit an appearance, is stupid. To hand it to them on a plate is madness. To actually become like them is suicide.
What sets us apart as Americans is our not our INability to make mistakes, but our ability to acknowledge, investigate and set wrongs right. Without that, we are nothing. If anyone thinks they are being patriotic or defending America by pretending we are ‘goodness and light’, they are at odds with the American way. We make mistakes, we acknowledge them, we fix them, we move on. That takes courage and it’s what (should) set us apart from Sauda Arabia, Egypt, Syria any other number of other countries.
Personally, I get a kick out of being different from odious regimes.
Forget muslims - not even the people of Britain (where I now live) believe that the United States stands for anything at all, let alone freedom and democracy. This movie (below) is being released on June 23rd. Love it or hate it, agree or disagree, it's the first of many that millions or billions of people around the world will see. It's the United States looking like Nazi Germany. The legacy of this will live on for the next fifty years or longer. After Abu Ghraib and secret rendition, it doesn't take any imagination whatsoever to be believable to white, right-wing, upper-class, wealthy Brits, let alone to billions of poor Muslims around the world. http://www.roadtoguantanamomovie.com/video/redband_large.html
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