Unite For Human Rights: Guantanamo Bay

When 9/11 happened I'll be the first to tell you I was blood thirsty
I wanted to see anyone who had a part in planning the attack strung up in the streets
to be beaten
peed on
you name it
I was angry
ready to join the military and fight back mad

I was mad because I value this country
value the beliefs on which it was founded
value my right to speak out
value my right to own a gun
value my right to religion
even if it is not the religion of my government
and I would put my life on the line to protect those things

Which is why on this day of bloggers uniting for human rights
I have to discuss a clear violation
of the principals for which I would die
Guantanamo
Bay

A long time ago, through the evolution of our organic legal system
we as Americans decided
the greatest crime would be to treat an innocent person as if they were guilty
rather than a guilty person as if they were innocent
we have trials
speedy trials
we have rules for detention
so that if you are innocent
you won't like being held
but you will be released and you will be released physically okay
We also decided this rule applies to everyone
even people we don't like as a whole
So, no matter how blood thirsty I am to see that child molester get beat and tortured
He gets the same trial and the same rights
as the man that shoplifted to feed his family

And this is the problem with Guantanamo Bay
despite our beautiful values
the Bush administration has determined that
they can single out a group to be excluded from rights
granted this group is a bit different
they are not US citizens
but illegal combatants
which means they
according to the Bush administration
do not fall under the Geneva Convention as prisoners of war
Why?
Because they do not wear military uniforms

So what does this means for a US citizen that loves the US enough to speak out against something?
Well, based on the slippery slope logic that gives protections to us against the what ifs
You or I could be detained
forced into Guantanamo Bay
because we wear no uniform
and deprived of our fundamental rights
our religion could be debased
our Bible flushed down the toilet
pages riped out
scribbled upon
we could wait years for a trial
we could be deprived sleep
beaten
and blindfolded

We could be tortured
and treated as if we were guilty
without any access to methods to prove our innocence
and this, is against everything we as Americans hold sacred

Worse
our children
boys just 3 years older than my own son
could be held too
children, treated as adults, even when that treatment
might be the result of a mistake

And how might you feel, mommy bloggers,
if your child was ripped from the streets and detained like that?
even if he was guilty of something
would you sit back and allow it?
would the government policy be okay by you?
would you not take to the streets and riot
would you not try to beat down the doors to protect your baby?
would you not form a deep hatred and distrust for the government?

I know it seems absurd
but the moment I became a Mother
I sort of felt like luck
more than anything gave me my children
and that sense
that I was handed a beautiful, healthy baby boy
and that any child could be my child
made me feel a sense of responsibility
to every child
therefore
I cannot watch another child be abused
especially at the hands of my own government
especially at the hands of a government
that is supposed to follow rules
rules that I hold sacred
and rules that are being disregarded
for the select few
and trampled

If you agree
check out Amnesty International
and speak up

"It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness."