Hey George,
I came across the below exchange that you had with Matt Lauer on
the Today Show. I would like to respond to
you as an American.
Matt Lauer: And yet
you admitted that there were these CIA secret facilities. OK?
President Bush: So what? Why is
that not within the law?
Matt Lauer: The head of Amnesty
International says secret sites are against international law.
President Bush: Well, we just
disagree with him. Plus, my job is to protect you. And most American
people, if I said [to them] that we had who we think is the mastermind
of the 9/11, they would say, “Why don’t you see if you can’t get
information without torturing him,” which is what we did.
Matt Lauer: I don’t want to let
this “within the law issue” slip though. I mean, if, in fact, there was
water boarding used with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and for the viewers,
that’s basically when you strap someone to a board and you make them
feel as if they’re going to drown by putting them underwater, if that
was legal and within the law, why couldn’t you do it at Guantanamo? Why
did you have to go to a secret location around the world?
President Bush: I’m not going
to talk about techniques. And, I’m not going explain to the enemy what
we’re doing. All I’m telling you is that you’ve asked me whether or not
we’re doing things to protect the American people, and I want the
American people to know we are doing so.
First of all, I am deeply grateful that there are news-o-tainment
people like Matt Lauer and Keith Olbermann of MSNBC that are finally
taking you to task for your lies and crimes against humanity. Torture
is a crime against humanity, George, and information gained from
torture is highly compromised and not even admissible in a court of
law, so basically, the information you have been cruelly gleaning from
“suspected” terrorists is useless in protecting America.
Secondly, I do not want one of my brothers or sisters in humanity
tortured to “protect me.” I don’t want you using me, as an American, to
endorse your sadistic policies. If one of my fellow human beings has to
be tortured to give me a false sense of security, then I don’t want it.
I would rather live my life on the edge of my seat then let you torture
anyone in my name with apparent impunity and brutal glee.
I do not want to see one more blood splattered child in Iraq or
Afghanistan screaming for their murdered family so we can “fight them
over there.” Why did we let you make the babies of these countries our
enemies? The adults of these countries could not defend themselves from
your insane policies, how could we allow you to demonize the Iraqi and
Afghani children in order to make Americans feel safer? I don’t feel
safer. I feel like you are killing my precious babies to
further your greed for power and riches.
I don’t want to see one more flag draped coffin coming home from
the Middle East with the lifeless body of one of our own children.
He/she did not die to protect me and I don’t want to be safe if it
means the death of one of our precious commodities: a part of the
future of our country. You are killing our children so that
Coca-Cola can open a bottling plant in Afghanistan and so that Exxon
and Halliburton can achieve wealth only dreamed of by King Midas.
Before the horrible day of 9/11/2001 that scarred our country and
sealed the doom of tens of thousands of innocent people all over the
world, killed by your war of terror on
harmless men, women and children, you cared nothing about keeping
America safe. You were handed a daily intelligence briefing when you
were on yet another vacation in Crawford, Texas called: Bin
Laden determined to strike in the US and according to Ron
Susskind in his book The One Percent Solution,
you told the CIA agent who delivered it to you on August 6th,
2001, in Crawford, Texas: “You’ve covered your ass now.” Then you
went on to enjoy your vacation of riding bikes, clearing brush and
playing golf in the hot August Texas sun. The worst terrorist attack
within our nation’s boundaries occurred on your watch (or lack thereof)
and the day after 9/11 you ruminated about the “New Pearl Harbor” that
the architects of the PNAC dreamed of to implement their goals of Pax
Americana.
I called on you almost two years ago to resign after you stole yet
another election and I am calling on you to resign again. I don’t know
how many more of our children and the world’s children have been killed
in those two years. You are a disgrace and a danger to our country. You
have not protected me or my family. In fact you have endangered my
children and my grandchildren with your skillful recruitment tactics
for al-Qaeda and people who never dreamed of being my enemy before your
policies killed their families. My great-grandchildren will be paying
off the black hole of a deficit that you are creating with these
unconscionable occupations.
If you won’t resign, then I hope Congress wakes up and finally
does the right thing by impeaching you and the rest of the liars in
your administration. The world can’t wait much longer for justice. If
Congress won’t do the right thing, then I hope my fellow citizens whom
you have also endangered by your callous and
careless mis-leadership wake up and overwhelmingly fire Congress
and replace them with a new Congress that will do what we hire them to
do: uphold the Constitution and protect our rights.
Signed:
Cindy Sheehan
Camp Casey Peace Institute
7440 Lone Star Parkway
Crawford, Texas 76638
PS: By the way, I am still waiting for an answer, George: What
Noble Cause?