Who tortures US citizens at home?
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The U.S. Senate recently released a report on the brutal interrogation techniques perpetrated by the CIA in the name of national security. With the welcoming help of 54 countries around the world, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has conducted illegal arrests, imprisonment, and torture of suspected terrorists. The world is outraged and US citizens are ashamed. Really?
In 2001, the US Congress voted for a so-called Patriotic Act, a tool of governmental doctrine to fight and prevent terrorism. One of the key points of the Patriotic Act is if a person is suspected of any terrorist connections, he or she can be detained without charge. The suspect can be held indefinitely without rights, without a lawyer, visits, or even a phone call.
Changes are needed in terms of legislation so no one will be able to claim they didn’t know what the CIA was doing.
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It is unthinkable how the legal body can even consider an act such as this. Yes, it is true, the Patriotic Act came into power just after the September 11 attack in 2001. However, after 13 years of constant fighting against terrorists, the US government is no where near proclaiming victory, so maybe there is a need for change. Changes are needed in terms of legislation so no one will be able to claim they didn’t know what the CIA was doing.
As the supreme super power, the USA has an obligation to promote democracy and civil rights to the every corner of this planet. Instead, torture is the main “export” from the USA these days. But that’s exportated crime, why should US citizens even bother with such unpleasantness? The crimes were committed in foreign countries, so it’s somebody else’s problem. Probably the responsibility of some policemen from Romania or Afghanistan, where illegal CIA prisons where set up, should lead the investigation?
The same ignorant approach to violations of human rights is what US protesters are now receiving from their own government. The rest of the world knows these feelings from when they have dealt with the ‘Americans’.
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In total, 54 countries were in the scheme for illegal CIA prisons. That means 54 constitutions were broken and 54 times the local political leaders lied to their own people when they claimed (all of them do that) they were looking after the ‘preservation of democracy and civil rights.’
Today we know Romania received huge amounts of aid from the USA in promoting this Eastern European state to full-membership of NATO. In return, Romania allowed CIA agents to install their illegal prisons. So, Romania is not part of NATO because the world needs to be safer, but only because the country allowed CIA torturers on its own soil.
And finally, we will ask the question, if the CIA tortures abroad, then who tortures US citizens at home? The answer is the very same system. If you think by “system” I mean the U.S. government, you are wrong.
The system I refer to is known as ‘a lack of knowledge, learning, information,‘ or simply ignorance. Authorities in The USA are ignorant of the implementation of basic civil rights, and many US citizens are ignorant of how their government is behaving when dealing with problems abroad. People are ignorant of the U.S. army’s invasion of some foreign countries. They are ignorant of people suffering because the administration made a mistake, or because a drone bombed innocent civilians? Nobody cares when minorities suffer in a country whose elite are backed by the U.S. government.
Ignorance will always make room for more ignorance. If a system conducts torture abroad, the same system will kill at home. There is no way lawless violence can be used to protect the nation, only an ignorant nation will prevail.
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