Letter Never Sent

In the previous entry I linked to a story regarding the US’s opposition to UN rules on torture. Today there was a story in the Christian Science Monitor about how the US ships ‘terror’ suspects to countries like Egypt, Syria, and Jordan who have no problem getting their hands a little dirty. Forget about due process, forget about habeas corpus. These guys will attach car batteries to your nipples and get the information they’re looking for. It’s shameful that our government would sanction this type of behavior.

Since 9/11, according to diplomats, US officials, and press reports, several suspects have quietly been detained and sent to the Middle East:

• Abu Zubaydah, a top Al Qaeda commander, was arrested in Pakistan in March, and moved to an “undisclosed location” by the US, possibly the Middle East.

• Muhammad Saad Iqbal Madni, a Pakistani arrested in Indonesia in January, was bundled aboard a CIA Gulfstream and flown from Jakarta to Egypt.

• Mahmoud bin Ahmad Assegaf, a Kuwaiti citizen and an alleged Al Qaeda financier, was arrested by the Indonesians, and then deported – also at the request of the CIA. The Kuwaiti embassy in Indonesia says it knows nothing about the case, and that it wasn’t informed that a Kuwaiti citizen had been detained.

• Mohammad Haydar Zammar, a Syrian-born German believed to have connections to the 9/11 hijackers, was detained in Morocco in June, and reportedly, the CIA arranged for him to be sent to Syria.

• In October, a Yemeni student, Jamil Qasim Saeed Mohammed, wanted in connection with the bombing of the USS Cole was turned over to the US by Pakistan and was flown to Jordan on a US-registered Gulfstream jet.

• Jabarah Mohamed Mansur, allegedly involved in an attempt to bomb the US and Israeli Embassies in Singapore, is currently being held and interrogated in Oman.

Egypt, like the US, won’t officially comment on the detainees. Perhaps because these deportations are not done through official channels or according to extradition treaties. But privately US officials confirm the practice. And Ahmed Moussa, an internal security correspondent for the state-supported Al-Ahram newspaper group in Cairo, also confirms the detentions.

We’re talking about regimes that use torture! Torture! That’s fucked up.

United States loses fight to block U.N. vote on torture convention. Of course, the US has been sending ‘terror’ suspects to third countries to be tortured for information so it’s not surprising they would try to block this.

I really enjoyed Veronica’s site, Unsent Letters, again today. Curiously, our sites have similar names and we’re both Texans. That’s pretty strange.

Some good/bad things today, a few funny things.

• ‘The Chosen’ Author Potok Dead at 73 Read that book in high school. Sorry to hear this.
• Indians begin worshipping dead British soldier as ‘god’ Common prayers often involve solicitations for help getting laid. Offerings to the White God include cigarettes and liquor.
• Anti-war liberal named as next leader of Anglican church. Good news. Religious institutions should be more consistent.
• Anti-Islam Message Left During Search, Family Says: Feds left “Islam is Evil, Christ is King,” message.
• Rabin’s Daughter Resigns from Israeli Government over occupation

You’ve heard the brouhaha. Now, put up or shut up. Look at the following set of lyrics and tell me which you like best. One is Steve Earle, from The Ballad of “John Walker’s Blues” and the second is Toby Keith’s “Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue (The Angry American)”. Which is the better song and be honest?

Just an American boy
Raised on MTV
And I’ve seen all them kids in the soda pop ads
None of them look like me.
So I started looking around
For a light out of the dim.
And the first thing I heard
That made sense was the word
Muhammad peace be upon him.

Chorus: Ash hadu alla Ilaaha illallah, there is no God but God.

If my daddy could see me now
Chains around my feet
He don’t understand sometimes a man
Has got to fight for what he believes.
And I believe God is great
All praise to him
And if I should die
I’ll rise up in the sky
Just like Jesus peace be upon him.

Chorus: Ash-hadu alla ilaaha illallah, there is no God but God.

We came to fight the jihad
Our hearts were pure and strong.
And when death filled the air
We all offered up prayers
Prepared for our martyrdom.
But Allah has some other plan
Some secret not revealed
Now they’re dragging me back
With my head in a sack
To the land of the infidels.

Chorus: Ash-hadu alla ilaaha illallah, there is no God but God.

Here’s a touch of Toby Keith:

Now this nation that I love
Is falling under attack
A mighty sucker punch came flying in
From somewhere in the back
As soon as we could see clearly
Through our big black eye
Man we lit up your world
Like the Fourth of July

Chorus:
Hey, Uncle Sam put your name
At the top of his list
And the Statue of Liberty
Started shaking her fist
And the eagle will fly
And it’s going to be hell
When you hear Mother Freedom
Start ringing her bell
And it will feel like the whole wide world
Is raining down on you
Brought to you courtesy
Of the Red, White and Blue

Oh, justice will be served
And the battle will rage
This big dog will fight
When you rattle his cage
You’ll be sorry that you messed
With the U.S. of A.
Cause we’ll put a boot in your ass
That’s the American way

CHORUS

Of the Red, White and Blue
Of my Red, White and Blue

Patriotism makes for shitty music. Just think about it. Lee Greenwood? Vomit.

Steve Earle on ‘Jerusalem’. He’s from Schertz, TX where my grandparents live.

“I’m happy with the way the song came out, but I’m nervous, not for myself, but I have taken some serious liberties with Walker, speaking as him, in his voice. I’m trying to make clear that wherever he got to, he didn’t arrive there in a vacuum. I don’t condone what he did. Still, he’s a 20 year-old kid. My son Justin is almost exactly Walker’s age. Would I be upset if he suddenly turned up fighting for the Islamic Jihad? Sure, absolutely. Fundamentalism, as practiced by the Taliban, is the enemy of real thought, and religion too. But there are circumstances. Walker was from a very bohemian household, from Marin County. His father had just come out of the closet. It’s hard to say how that played out in Walker’s mind. He went to Yemen because that’s where they teach the purest kind of Arabic. He didn’t just sit on the couch and watch the box, get depressed and complain. He was a smart kid, he graduated from high school early, the culture here didn’t impress him, so he went out looking for something to believe in.”

Maverick musician Steve Earle, penned a ballad called “John Walker’s Blues” honoring John Walker Lindh. I think that’s what art and music should be all about. I may have to buy that CD when it comes out. From FoxNews:

The controversial ballad called “John Walker’s Blues” is backed by the chanting of Arabic prayers and praises Allah.

Earle’s lyrics describe the United States as “the land of the infidel.” Those fighting Usama bin Laden’s declared jihad against the United States and Jews are said to have hearts “pure and strong.”

The song says when Lindh dies, he will “rise up to the sky like Jesus.”

Northern California-raised Lindh, 21, last week pleaded guilty to charges including fighting for the Taliban against U.S. forces. He faces 20 years in jail under a plea deal.

The Lindh ballad is on Earle’s forthcoming album “Jerusalem,” which contains other songs that touch on political and social issues, including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Earle is currently in Europe and could not be reached for comment. But he told an audience at the Mariposa Folk Festival in Ontario, Canada, this month: “This song just may get me f—ing deported.”

Awesome. Self-righteous pinks across the nation are having conniptions as we speak. I need more time to enjoy it.