bandandit

god is great...god will punish them

February 13, 2006

preface:
The idea of writing politically and socially based blogs has been growing on me since i've started the habit of reading the New York Times online every morning these past few months. And since i haven't been able to locate my "creative mojo," lesser known as "crojo," i think i'm going to stick with posting them.

Not that i really need to say this, as i know it is something anyone reading this blog is already well aware of, but it's quite amazing to read about all the total crap that's going on in the world. Not just that, which is bad enough as it is, but for me, i can't seem to wrap my head around the number of fucking idiots there are (seriously, the number laid out in a size 12 font would literally be able to wrap around the circumference of my head) involved with all the fucked crap going on in this world.

Here's a prime example:

Back in December of 2002, two Afghan men were "found dead within days of each other, hanging by their shackled wrists in isolation cells" at an American prison in Bagram, Afghanistan. According to the coroner who examined them, their injuries were compared to being "run over by a bus." Without getting into tell this entire story, which can be found at the New York Times website, there were only 15 out of 27 american soldiers and officers of who, recommended to be criminally charged, were actually prosecuted for the mistreatment of the prisoners which ultimately led to their death.

And using the word mistreatment is actually somewhat kind. These afghan men, one of which who had been innocent of the crimes he was arrested for, were hung buy shackles, sleep deprived, beaten and god knows what else. And for what? One soldier admitted that some of the men did it because "they were amused to hear him cry out, Allah!" Amusing isn't it? To hear someone from a different country yell out to their god in pain and agony? As for the others, well, they did it because, "although the administration issued a general order that detainees should be treated humanely, internal military files on the case show that officers and soldiers at Bagram differed over what specific guidelines, if any, applied." A general order that detainees be treated as human. Outstanding.

And the worst of is that these 15 men and women who were charged for this crime didn't receive much more that a slap on the wrist. Actually most of them were demoted a rank and simply discharged honorably. I don't get it. I really don't. The whole thing baffles me. Have humans always acted this way towards others? When are people going to wake up and realize their delusions?

The sad thing in this whole story, which is quite massive that i didn't even begin to touch it all, goes beyond the political story and hits with the simple thought of life and death. Too many people take it for granted. I often do too, especially when it comes to myself. But what happens when you lose all moral concept of the lives of people you're 'not supposed to like'? When all you see are tags such as 'evil' and 'terrorist', that you fail to remember that everybody serves one universal cause; the pursuit to live and be happy. I may not understand a religion and i may not understand a middle eastern culture. i may not like what comes of the clash between my world and theirs, but that doesn't mean i hate them. They are people just the same as you or I, here on this planet to live.

And with that i leave this blog with a quote from the brother of one of the detainees, after he was killed: "We do not think that people should be in prison. My brother is dead. If they arrest 10,000 Americans, what good will that do me? I am angry with them, but this was the will of God. God is great, and God will punish them."

Although i don't understand it, i sympathize very strongly because that is his belief.

(Comment:)
"Their" god...it's the same god that we're assuming is worshipped by the American soldiers. That's what I could never understand about this sort of hatred --- it's all just ignorance, really.

Brian, I think your recent blogs are creative! Keep them coming!

(Comment:)
This is good. Here's one crazy aspect of the situation that you didn't mention - articles like this are on the THE FRONT PAGE OF THE PAPER pretty much every day. Go out on the street or walk into your job and tell someone this story and they will be shocked, as if they've never heard it before, but then put things back in context, tell them it's afgani torture victims being held by US military, and their eyes will glaze over, and they'll just turn around and walk away. This information is all out there, clear as fucking night for everyone to see, but we're still stuck in turmoil over getting some commom theme for the Democratic party to move behind in the next election. Hey here's a theme for you - the world is dying! Everything that's being done right now is wrong - do something new! Stop killing and raping. Or maybe the leaders will all shoot each other out in a field and then we can take over.

(Reply:)
or maybe the world should just blow up (or at least the majority of it) so that our kin (or what's left of them) might have a chance of the peace and happiness we're striving for. but then again, with our luck, only the leaders would probably survive.

posted by H. Hopkins @ 10:03 AM Comments: 0