Vets for Common Sense Oppose Torture

I've been too busy to blog lately, but the site could use some new content, so I'm posting an e-mail message I received this morning from an old buddy of mine who is a Sgt. in the U.S. Army. Since this was a personal message, I'll keep his name anonymous and leave it up to him to identify himself if he wishes.

Listen up, maggots!

Veterans for Common Sense - a non-partisan group of vets and fellow travelers who share a deep concern about our nation's politico-military conduct - continues its petition campaign to demand a genuinely independent investigation of our country's use of torture, extradition, etc. in Iraq, Afghanistan, Gitmo and elsewhere around the globe.

Peruse the link below, read the letter and background. If you concur, add your name to the list and forward to anyone else you think might be interested:
Veterans for Common Sense

Drive on,
Sarge

Last night, I watched the Frontline documentary The Torture Question, which made it disturbingly clear that the torture at Abu Ghraib occurred as a result of new rules regarding the treatment of detainees that were implemented at the Guantanamo Bay facilities. Watching the show, I was sickened to see evidence of the abuses committed by representatives acting on behalf of the United States and to learn that such abuses were condoned by Donald Rumsfeld and others in the Bush Administration.

It will be interesting to see whether the House passes and Bush vetoes the Senate's anti-torture resolution, which was a necessary gesture to the rest of the world that the American people do not support torture. In any case, it's good to know that soldiers and others in the military community are organizing in order to express their opposition to torture. It seems like a 'no brainer' but these are strange times. Ultimately, I suspect, it will be captured U.S. prisoners of war, in Iraq or other future sites of conflict, who find themselves subject to torture with the U.S. government unable to make a legal or moral case against such treatment since the Bush Administration has indicated that it regards the Geneva Conventions obsolete in its vision of a New World Order.