Road Rage

Just watched a film called The Road to Guantanamo. Apparently you can watch the whole thing online here (not sure how long this link will last).

It's the story of four young men who travel to Pakistan to celebrate their friend's wedding in 2001 just after 9/11. Getting caught up in the emotion of the moment, they travel to Afghanistan to do what they can to help refugees and the people of Afghanistan. They don't really explain their motivations well but being young and idealistic that's probably reason enough; didn't you do stupid things as a 20 year old? They spend weeks just waiting with nothing to do then try to get back to Pakistan. They end up at a battle and are captured with other foreigners and Taliban. Then the film outlines their treatment first in Afghanistan and then on to Guantanamo Bay and Camp X-Ray.

It's pretty traumatic viewing. I am so angry at the Americans and their treatment of these three young men (one disappeared in Afghanistan and was probably mass graved). I wept with rage at their treatment and at my own growing hatred. There wasn't a moment of goodness say with a guard smiling at a prisoner, nothing. The Americans tried to control every aspect of their lives; in Guantanamo, they couldn't even stand up and got five minutes of exercise a week. They were tortured and mistreated, beaten all for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Can you imagine someone pointing a gun at you or holding a ferocious dog just far enough from you? Can you imagine them screaming at you all the time, telling you what to do and when to do it? Can you imagine solitary confinement? Can you imagine being punched for telling the truth when asked a question?

One question that kept popping into my head was: If the Americans hate these people so much and don't much care for the truth, why not just kill them? It would be a whole lot better than years of trauma and torture.

Check out the film and maybe you'll gain respect for these young men and what they had to endure. They got out but hundreds more are still there. Still being beaten, still being mistreated and lied to, still waiting for justice that never comes.