Drip... drip... drip...

If you have read my ramblings on these pages this year, you know that nothing angers me more than the slow drip of information that exposes our nation as one that tortures. Piece by piece, we have learned at what price this administration has sold the nation's morality.

Well, the drip is going to turn into a stream very soon. And the books (yes, books... plural) are slated to be released in coming months. With titles like Kafka Comes to America, by Steven Wax, My Guantanamo Diary, by Mahvish Rukhsana Khan, a former interpreter at the base, and many others, the stories and first-hand accounts are starting to slowly seep their way out.

As prisoners are finally released, and people of conscience finally stand up, the true scope of American torture will show itself... and soon. That realization hit me this morning when I opened the newspaper.

Are we ready to hear about this? Based on the previews, I think we better brace ourselves for this flood.

I read in my Sunday paper today that Sami al-Hajj, a cameraman for Al Jazeera, was released from Guantanamo Bay after six years. During those six years, he was never charged with a crime. No trial was held. Mr. Hajj was so frail upon his release that he departed his plane directly into an ambulance. He met his now 7-year-old son, an infant when he was detained, at that time.

You can read the further details at: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/04/opinion/04kristof.html?_r=1&ref=opinion&oref=slogin

The article is called A prison of Shame, and It's Ours, by Nicholas D. Kristof.

I remember studying brutal regimes in college. I was horrified that those regimes used doctors to monitor the health of the tortured only to conclude that they could survive more torture. Ethics be damned. The newest accounts suggest we have done just that.

We will learn about one hundred detainees have died in our custody. We will learn that many of the detainees are victims of the prices our government offered to pay for anyone who could be described as an "Al Qaeda supporter," whatever that means. In short, we offered money for leads, and ... well, when you don't have a trial, it's hard to prove you were thrown under the bus for money.

And we will find out that we torture. (And, more than just the three times the administration has admitted to).

Today I hang my head in sadness over these revelations. I can only pray that our people show the kind of outrage for this type of government action that mandates a change. When it comes to morality of this nature, we cannot simply wait for a new president. Rather, our citizenry must speak so forcefully against this kind of crime that even an administration as unreceptive as the current one will do the right thing.

Unfortunately, I don't think that will happen. I'd bet the farm it doesn't.

And that saddens me most of all.