much has been 'reported' on in the news about the genocide in gaza- oh, not so much by american news media, but the rest of the planet is acutely aware of the atrocities. not us. nope. we stand firmly behind our 'ally' in israel because of our belief in the judeo-christian religions and because hey, we need a non muslim force in the mid-east to keep our oil and natural gas safe.
i remember how i felt when i learned of abu ghraib. melodrama doesn't enter in when i say that i was sick to my soul. i naively never thought that america could or would willingly torture other people. it went against everything i had ever been taught to believe in as an american. it still does, but i am not as naive.
so, the words 'war crimes' are being bandied about in the media- for despots in africa; to now, perhaps, the israelis and it's being whispered....... america. for the first time in my life, i believe that my country needs to be held accountable for kidnapping, torturing, and even killing men and children- who for the most part have been innocent. i believe it to be right and fair if it happens. but i don't know if the world has enough nerve to go for it.
the western world assembled and decided that there needed to be certain rules to warfare- and they called it the geneva convention. the founding fathers in the new world believed that all men were created equal and they put together a starter charter called the constitution of the united states of america. both of these documents were considered 'quaint' by bushco and both shredded and ignored. the people responsible for this tragedy need to be held accountable. it's easy enough for the western world to trot out eastern european dictators or african warlords- they don't look and sound like 'us.' it is, apparently, next to impossible to bring up english speakers on charges of crimes against humanity.
for the last hundred years or so, america has bullied, frightened, blackmailed, and outright crushed anyone or any group who stood in her way of what she wanted. the rest of the world has cowed underneath the fist of military might. well, from the looks of things, the bully is getting her ass handed to her by greed and the world is figuring out that they don't have to be quite so afraid anymore. it has been by fear and luck that we have not had a foreign invasion on american soil. the fear is ebbing away and, i am afraid, that the luck is running out.
we need to do the right thing and hold the bush/cheney administration and the members of congress who helped them- accountable. be vigilant and vote out the corrupt congressmembers. keep pressure up on the rest of congress and the obama administration to do everything in their power to scrub away this very large stain on the american flag. it is one of many to clean up- but we have to start one at a time.
