Timothy Gatto

Yesterday proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that there are no more "Good Guys" on this planet operating in government circles. Of course we have known that for a long time now, but still, the report identifying the torture abuses that went on under the auspices of the United States should have made us a "pariah" state.

The time to wake up and smell the coffee has arrived. It is now officially declared that those in power that are elected under a criminally corrupted system of so called elections are above the law. It doesn't matter that 61% of Americans don't even bother to vote for the corporate "cut-outs" that actually run in these farcical elections, it has been decreed that these people are above the law.

We ordinary citizens however must follow the "rule of law" to the letter. It doesn't matter that our government for years kidnapped people and set them to "black sites" in countries all over the world and tortured them and in some cases killed them. Places like Syria, Poland and Afghanistan among the many nations that were used. Here is an excerpt from the report:

In November 2002, a detainee who had been held partially nude and chained to the floor died, apparently from hypothermia. This case appears similar to the that of Gul Rahman, who died of similarly explained causes at an Afghan site known as the “Salt Pit,” also in November 2002. The site was also called “The Dark Prison”by former captives.

Other parts of the report include "detainee's" made to stand for hours on broken legs. Sleep deprivation, being punched and kicked as well as being "waterboarded" were common practices. Yes this is American "enhanced interrogation" thy so glibly talked about. People like Dick Cheney and Don Rumsfeld and the rest of the criminal cartel that ran this nation.

During this time the United States, the "Great Bastion of Democracy" pulled out of the International Criminal Court. (The ICC) They were fully aware that they were committing war crimes and could be indicted for that. How convenient. Meanwhile the majority of Americans paid no attention.

Now, with his report we are at a crossroad. We can let this cowardly administration give the Bush Administration a free pass on these war crimes or we can rise up and demand justice for the thousands of people that were tortured and mistreated. Don't hold your breath, because it's just not going to happen.

This is because the present Administration is also up to its ears in War Crimes. It indiscriminately rains down hellfire missiles at anyone it considers a threat, not caring what the collateral damage might be. How many wedding parties and Bedouin caravans have had to deal with death from the sky that they never saw coming? How many people has Obama killed? Here is part of an article:

"In his letter to Congressional leaders, Mr. Holder confirmed that the administration had deliberately killed Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical Muslim cleric who died in a drone strike in September 2011 in Yemen. Mr. Holder also wrote that United States forces had killed three other Americans who “were not specifically targeted.”

"The American involvement in Mr. Awlaki’s death has been widely reported, but the administration until now had refused to confirm it. Likewise, Mr. Holder confirmed the government’s role in the deaths of Samir Khan, who was killed in the same strike, and Mr. Awlaki’s son, Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, who died in another strike. The letter disclosed the death of a fourth American named Jude Kenan Mohammad but gave no further details."

Mr. Awlaki's son, Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was a US citizen from California who was trying to find his father. He was 16 years old. I know that many know about this, but it illustrates why Obama has given a pass to members of the Bush Administering. You have to understand that he is a killer too. He gives the people in the Bush Administration a get out of jail card and he hopes that the next administration (who will most likely be killers too) will give him a pass.

Meanwhile the American people just sit down and take it. This gives the government the impression that they are above the law so they continue to push the boundaries of humanity. This fact isn't wasted of law enforcement. It actually sets a standard of behavior on how to deal with "The Bad Guys".

I guess some of you are wondering what I'm getting at. It isn't hard to figure out. In recent months a number of people have been shot dead with their hands in the air surrendering to a police officer, another was choked to death on the sidewalk, and here in South Carolina, a police officer shot a man getting out of his vehicle because of a seat belt violation.

So this is the "New America". This is the exceptional, indispensable nation that the World cannot live without. I don't know about you, but I sincerely believe that the time has come to either change this rotten- to-the-core-system we live under, or it's time to get the hell out of Dodge. This America sucks. I don't see anything good about it anymore. It stinks like dead fish and the people in the nation are totally brain dead.

The rest of the World can see it. Too bad the majority of Americans can't.

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Tim Gatto's new book "Contempt to Outrage" available from Oliver Arts and Open Press.

By Timothy V. Gatto, a retired Army Sergeant and former Chairman of The Liberal Party of America. He can be reached at: timgatto@hotmail.com Read Tim's Book "Complicity to Contempt" and his Novel "Kimchee Days or Stoned Cold Warriors From Oliver Arts and Open Press and available on Amazon and all other online bookstores.