Assalamu ‘alaykum
I know I'm a bit late on the bandwagon but from the very onset of hearing this news I was shocked. It’s appalling and sick really. And although I may be an American, it doesn’t stop me from saying that this was unjust and unfounded.
Because in all honesty, it’s not about being Pro-American or Anti-American … it’s about being
human. If one does not question nor look into the cases of injustice or oppression, or feels nothing but passivity to it, then I question their humanity. Not just in the case of America and its terrorism – but throughout the world. Be it in Congo, Bosnia, Algeria, China etc… oppression is rampant and in each case we should take a definitive side against it.
In this case it’s not even about being a Muslim or not, since even many who are not Muslim have recognized the injustice which has been ongoing and promoted by our government. And I think this is something which has to be recognized and understood.
Becoming blind sheep, following where led, not looking into the reality of affairs and indulging only in our own problems thinking that it is the extent of our responsibility is simply selfish and self-centered in my opinion. Even if we cannot do anything to combat things which are wrong, the least we should do is acknowledge it as being wrong. Turning a blind eye to it, devalues that human life. And if we stoop so low as to devalue another human life – have we not in essence devalued our own?
And claiming ignorance is pleading an empty excuse. An excuse not to know. If we are ignorant, then I think it is our duty to some extent to find out and see what the truth is - or may be. America was propounded to be the supporters of liberty – but if our representing government does otherwise, then by all means I will denounce it and say that we no longer stand for that. In the name of ‘liberation’ and ‘freedom’ America has done so many inhumane and unjust things throughout time. Not to say other countries have not, they have, and each should be condemned for that – but as an American I only speak of this country. In countless periods we’ve boasted as a nation to have a ‘moral superiority’ and shown a disregard of rules, perhaps in favor of that morality scale which we judge by. And through that have oppressed many people in many lands with utter disregard.
It’s our responsibility to remove ourselves from that, and be understanding of ‘anti-American’ sentiments. It may seem sad or pathetic, but that’s what we’ve been reduced to. I will myself attest to goodness in many Americans – but in America? As the face of a nation is represented by our government and many of its institutions --- I don’t know if I can defend it.
The following might be a bit off topic – but I think it ties into the general topic of understanding some of the realities behind the government – and realizing it’s not as clear cut as we’d imagine, and justice is often not served.
These excerpts are taken from a book released called,
“The Guantanamo Lawyers” which brings to light narratives of lawyers who actually represented detainees in Guantanamo Bay. If anyone is inclined to be the least bit skeptical in what the media and other 3rd parties claim about these people then I’d encourage reading this book to read of the actual occurrences and first hand reports. It’s written by Americans and thus has no “Anti-American” sentiments at all, but presents facts as they are and shows that things that many of us may stand for and believe in are not necessarily what our government embodies.
At Guantanamo, though, our notes actually play a special role because of the farcical rules imposed on us by our government and our courts. The rule is that everything our imprisoned clients tell us is presumed to be classified – a secret that, if revealed, would endanger the national security of the United States, a secret that, if we tell anyone else without a security clearance and without a “need to know,” will subject us to draconian penalties, including felony imprisonment. At Guantanamo, you’re talking to men whom our government has collectively demonized as the “worst of the worst” without ever proving any such thing. For more than two and a half years, the U.S. government even managed to keep their very identities secret. The government did this because it’s hard to feel bad about holding supposedly dangerous men you can’t see or hear and whose names you don’t even know.
So notes for lawyers at Guantanamo are our first tool for making our clients into real people… Otherwise, the horrible, the fascinating, the mundane, the desperate things the men at Guantanamo have to say – which have nothing to do with our national security – remain secrets.
Matthew O’Hara – pgs 119 - 120
What stays with me the most about Guantanamo was how so much of what occurred there simply made me laugh – oftentimes inappropriately so, whether ironically, bitterly, sardonically, or otherwise. Yet I could not avoid that reaction. Whether because of the surrealism, the absurdity, the hypocrisy, the capriciousness, or maybe because some events were just plain funny. Maybe it was a defense mechanism, constituting the only alternative to anger and frustration, to the helplessness we experienced when confronted by a system – more accurately a human laboratory – designed and implemented to break human beings physically, emotionally, psychologically, and culturally. Maybe it was because Guantanamo represented such an alternate universe that what occurred there lacked any foundation in the “real” world, and it could be viewed as amusing without significant consequences.
Of course, there were consequences, for real persons absorbing real pain and punishment. But parsing out the wry parts enabled me to move forward in my mission – representing and defending my client – rather than becoming immobilized by the injustice, intolerance, and insensitivity to ordinary human interaction that GTMO embodied.
Joshua L. Dratel - pg 131
Being an attorney for a person who is being held without charge for an indefinite period is pretty miserable. On some days, it is even heartbreaking. Most days I find myself frustrated because trying to do my best is not good enough, and I have the added burden of trying to help keep my clients sane through it all.
H. Candace Gorman – pg 135
Aziz’s right leg ached. When he lifted his tan pant leg to show me, I saw the hard, beige-toned plastic, a white sneaker laced at the bottom. The leg widened upward into a black-banded shank, ending in soft rubber that fit against his skin.
His lower right leg, the real one, had blown off in a land-mine explosion in Kashmir in 2001. He was brought to a hospital in Lahore, Pakistan to recover. The doctors there gave him a good lightweight prosthetics stamped “Made in Germany.” It fit him well, and he had learned to walk with it. At the U.S. military base in Bagram, Afghanistan, a beating by U.S. soldiers left it broken, cracked down the side.
“The interrogators here said they would fix it,” explained Aziz, who was meeting with us for the first time. “But after they took it away, they said they would not give it back until I confessed. I would have confessed to anything to get my leg back, but I didn’t know what they wanted me to say. For months I went without a leg. Finally, they gave me this one. It’s too long and heavy, too hard to walk with, and they don’t give me new socks to cover up my stump when the old ones wear out.”
Aziz pulled the stump out to show us, leaving the prosthetic leg and its shoe still shacked to the floor, alongside the good leg. As I looked at what remained of his right leg, I knew I had come to the heart of a new kind of irony.
Ellen Lubel – pgs 138 – 139
And that’s a tame story by far. I know it might disillusion some to know the truth, it even shocked me… but how can we not believe in something when it’s not one or two people reporting injustice at the hands of our government – but hundreds?! And this was only one of our institutions…
I believe the whole book is online at this link – and if one wants to read further on it, and stories of real people in it, then it is available to do so. Such as this account –
Letter from Tawfiq II (warning – some parts are a bit graphic).
There are many Americans who can only be commended, as well as many Muslims living in America who have known no other land and shouldn’t be criticized for their nationality – but I think we have to understand that yes – America was and has been wrong. And because of the severity of it, the utter lack and disregard of morality of some of those wrongs – we’ve given a reason for many people to hate us. I mean if these atrocities happened to your father, your son, your mother or daughter - how would you feel about the country responsible for it? It might not be our duty to apologize, but it is a given we must understand.
I think even greater than what we know about Dr. Aafia Siddiqui (may Allaah bless her and ease her difficulties) is what we don’t know, and perhaps never will. There are many unanswered questions – but what stands out is that there have been no attempts at answers. She was only convicted by the shooting, but what of the disappearance and imprisonment before that? What happened to her then? What’s to take account of that? And however gracious she was about it – it is undeniable how disproportionate her sentence is. Even actual murderers get less – much rather someone who missed!
In the end, this world was not built for true justice, and only on the Day of Judgement will every truth and injustice be rightly put in its place and accounted for. I’m sorry for being long-winded, and I apologize if I have seemed critical in my words. They are not directed to anyone, but general thoughts I’ve had myself and have come to conclude.
Allaah knows best
wasalaamu ‘alaykum
