Today's New York Times has a very interesting article that requires a thorough reading. It details how an American contractor was held in an American military prison in Iraq for more than 90 days without access to a lawyer. Furthermore, this person was wrongly jailed. He was an informant for the FBI into possible contractor fraud, and the military detained him. To add insult to injury, this man was subject to many of the same treatments as the prisoners at Gitmo.
Two very important issues come to mind from this story.
Why would American citizens subject themselves to this? I am not talking about the actual treatment, but the risk of being subject to that treatment. I know the pay is phenomenal for American contactors in Iraq, but in essence you are putting a price on your life, and in the end your life is not worth that price.
Now I know many are thinking that "this will never happen to me or my loved one working over there", and if that is the case, then you must read this story again. This is a man, who was doing the right thing. He was reporting possible illegal activities, something any citizen of the United States, with a conscience would do. He ended up being subject to 3 months of total hell, because the military screwed up, and remember - he was denied access to attorneys (because of Bush's idea of Democracy), so he had no way to plea his case. Sounds more like times prior to the 17th century than the 21st century.
The other issue that comes to mind deals with the people who constantly support this type of technique. I am talking about the wingnuts (the Malkins and Drudges in the world).
Now I can understand that these people also suffer from the proverbial "this couldn't happen to me" mind set. This just shows how disconnected from reality they really are.
