Dream with me

When did we Sacrifice our Humanity to hate?

Humanity has it's dark side, we all recognise that, but some people seem to be much darker than others.

As more and more evidence of abuse at Abu Ghraib emerges I begin to feel more and more sick. More and more ashamed.

How can we claim to be the enlightened civilisations on this planet when we can do such things to one another in apparently good conscience?

Below I am pasting extracts from an entry by Andrew Sullivan. I warn all those with weak stomachs not to read it.

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ANTI-ISLAMIC TORTURE:

One of the remarkable features of this whole disgusting phenomenon is the anti-Muslim techniques. We now have the use of sexual humiliation, rape, the force-feeding of pork, forcible pouring of liquor down an inmate's throat, wrapping someone in the Israeli flag, forcing inmates to kneel and pray and then kicking them in the head, and now placing duct tape over the mouth of someone reciting the Koran. Here's a revealing piece of evidence - a first-hand sworn Red Cross deposition of an interrogation in Abu Ghraib:

"They took me inside the building and started to scream at me. They stripped me naked, they asked me, "Do you pray to Allah?" I said, "Yes." They said, "Fuck you" and "Fuck him." ... Someone else asked me, "Do you believe in anything?" I said to him, "I believe in Allah." So he said, "But I believe in torture and I will torture you. When I go home to my country, I will ask whoever comes after me to torture you." Then they handcuffed me and hung me to the bed. They ordered me to curse Islam and because they started to hit my broken leg, I cursed my religion. They ordered me to thank Jesus I am alive. And I did what they ordered me. This is against my belief. They left me hang from the bed and after a while I lost consciousness."

And we wonder why we have all but lost this war.

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Reading that, watching the daily reports of almost ritual humiliation and torture of people based solely on the fact that they are Muslims, how can we claim to be civilised?

How can we claim to be human beings when we allow such atrocities to take place? I do not care if they are Anti-American extremists or if they have killed soldiers in Iraq. At what point do they sacrifice their humanity?

There is no point at which one can justify such treatment. All specifically designed to humiliate and mentally/physically torture Islamists.

At what point do we sacrifice humanity?

By supporting 'Our Boys' are we by extension condoning such grotesque behaviour? Yes, I think we are. We treat torturers like heroes.

Can the defence of 'just following orders' be allowed to stand here? I suppose if it does it leads to much bigger questions. Questions that governments are experts in no answering.

We in the west have a lot to answer for. We are nothing but barbarians, destroying thousands of years of culture because we feel like it.

Of course certain things have to change. The treatment of women for one. But that is not the sort of change that can be forced on people. Male superiority in an ingrained belief and simple telling someone it is wrong is not going to work.

Is it any wonder our standing as countries and as people is so called into question? That we have sunk so low?

At what point did we sacrifice our humanity?