AMAZON

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Tomorrow is the six-year anniversary of the first arrival of prisoners at Guantánamo Bay.

Now that I am beginning to adjust to being a lunger needing oxygen, I need to get on with other, more important stuff. I apologize for not posting this sooner. I've been involved with the Close Guantánamo Campaign for over a month, but neglected to share it with you until today.

As I’ve written before, I’ve been a pinko, card carrying member of the American Civil Liberties Union for more than half my life. On January 11th, we of the ACLU are calling on everyone opposed to torture and indefinite detention to WEAR ORANGE to symbolize their sadness and disgust with the national shame that is Guantánamo Bay:




January 11, 2008 will mark six years since the first 20 prisoners arrived at Guantánamo Bay Cuba. Since then, 775 prisoners have passed through the gates and no trials have been completed.

As a symbol of freedom and democracy throughout the world, the United States must hold itself to our own high standards. When we resort to the use of torture, abuse, and indefinite detention we lower ourselves to the level of our enemies and defy the basic values that we hold dear. Guantánamo Bay has tarnished the reputation of the United States and makes a mockery of our core values. Six years on, it is time to call once and for all for the United States to CLOSE GUANTÁNAMO!

Stand with us on January 11th and let’s prove that those who would advocate for a lower standard are on the wrong side of the law... the wrong side of core American values... and the wrong side of history. Join me in signing the petition to Close Guantánamo and stand strong in support of justice.


18 comments:

  1. Hi. I came over from Bryan's place.

    I wasn't familiar with this campaign to close Guntanamo. Thank you for the post.

    I'm sorry to read of your lung problems.

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  2. Excellent campaign, Rev Saint. Tonight I heard a discussion on NPR about the negative view of the United States throughout the world that Guantanamo has created. Unfortunately, the same program reported that less than 1% of Americans see Guantanamo as a problem.

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  3. I really need to read up on this subject.
    Thanks for the awareness.
    Hope you are breathing well!

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  4. Thanks for the heads-up about Guantanamo, I need to inform myself better about this. Cheers Nick

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  5. wow... that is shocking! hope something happens soon, stuff like that should not happen in this day and age, simply not acceptable...

    have a good weekend!

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  6. This is astonishing...hell...and I admire the US :(...

    Sad to hear about your lung problems

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  7. Nick, I totally agree with you about Guantanamo Bay. Yes, close it! One of our citizens, David Hicks, was held there until last year without trial. He is back in Australia now and, regardless of what he is supposed to have done, is a relatively free man. I say relatively, because he has restrictions imposed upon his freedom.

    But, of course, there are the other poor souls still detained in Guantanamo. Get them to trial and close the place. It's a blot on the USA's landscape.

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  8. I wasn't familiar with this campaign either. I hope this goes through.

    Hope you're doing ok Nick! Been MIA for a while, but wanted to drop in and wish you a wonderful weekend!

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  9. hi grumpy

    hope its going better today.
    xx
    pinks

    yes. close guantanamo

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  10. Must look in closet for something orange for when I head out later today.
    Hope you adjust to the new situation with the oxygen dear.
    Meditate with a good book always sounds good.

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  11. Closing it would be good. Never having opened it would have been better.

    When you get to a certain age getting used to your health problems inevitabley takes the place of getting over them. I was about 20 when I realized this.
    Chin up Nick there's a good chap!

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  12. Hi Nick,
    Just dropped in from San's place. Nice to make your acquantance.

    I to am a lunger as you call it,I call it, well I wont tell a minister of the cloth what I think about 12 hours a day on O2.But we battle on regardless. You may wish to look up a couple of my past blogs,"Should Campaigning Become An Obsession" or "If I Can, Anybody Can. or "Frustrating Being Frustrated". If you are recently diagnosed they might help.

    With regard to Guantanamo, it should never have been opened in the first place. Close it by all means but send the inmates back to the country where they were captured. Not to a country of choice to potentialy go under cover subversives again.

    Best regards

    Keith.

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  13. I would say that you did the right thing by making breathing a priority over posting about this, even though it's simply outrageous. Thanks for reporting.

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  14. I can't believe this ahs been going on so long. It's a disgrace and has been since minute 1.

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  15. It's shameful that Guantanomo is still in use after six whole years. There are people there who have been there six years with no trial, no proof that they even did anything. It's dreadful.

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  16. Sorry my friend, been AWOL for a bit.

    Good campaign. When we do close it, which I believe will be when Dubya exits (unless another Republican nutbag gets in), so much will come out. America rivals many countries on Amnesty International when it comes to torture, and further exposure on Guantanomo will prove it. Americans don't like to see themselves as such--oh well. Most of the inmates there are either innocent or held without accusation--reminds me of some other countries we tend to criticize.

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