Why is Brandon Neely a Moron or a War Criminal?

When I came across this story, I thought it provided an interesting look into circumstances most of us can't even begin to wrap our heads around. I started googling for more information. I should not have been surprised by what I read.

Brandon Neely served our country as a Military Policeman in the Army. In 2002, Neely spent 6 months as a guard at Guantanamo Bay's Camp X-Ray. He was 22 years old. He arrived in Cuba ready to take his government at its word; ready to believe that he would be guarding the absolute worst examples of hate-filled terrorists - those directly responsible for the 9/11 massacre. What he found, though, was not quite what he expected. And I don't think Neely found himself to be what he expected either.

Neely related one disturbing experience caused primarily by language barriers and no doubt exacerbated by brutal treatment the prisoners had been dealt prior to their arrival: Neely was attempting to get an elderly prisoner to kneel so he (the prisoner) could be unshackled. The terrified old man thought he was being forced to kneel in order to be shot. He struggled. Neely believed he was in danger from the fighting prisoner. He slammed the old man's head into the ground in an effort to subdue him. Neely freely admits to his actions and shows remorse, even though he could not have been expected to know any diffferent at the time. For this, Neely is being called a War Criminal and a moron by a gang of keyboard-warrior douche-bags hiding behind their computer generated anonymity.

Neely saw some ugly things at Camp X-Ray. It took him some time to clear the cobwebs from his head and really see what was in front of his eyes. Remember he expected his charges to be horrendously evil and maybe not quite human. He didn't speak up as soon as he should have. I'll concede that. But he's speaking up NOW. That counts for at least something.

Moving on, let's look at the 2 former captives Neely has recently met with, Shafiq Rasul and Rufal Ahmed. Were these dangerous jihadis who hated freedom and wanted to destroy America? Were they fanatical terrorists? Hardly. They were no different from thousands of other fun-seeking boys around the world. Like a real life version of Harold and Kumar, these 2 knuckleheads were willing to travel across the world to smoke pot without parental interference. Both Rasul and Ahmed have more likely than not mortified their families, and will be forever remembered as the 2 geniuses who went out into the world to get high and ended up imprisoned at Camp X-Ray.

But I still think the reunion is a damn good story.

My Comment on the TSA Blog

There is currently a lively discussion going on the Travel Safety and Security forum at Flyer Talk about Mikey, the 8 year old Cub Scout who seems to be on a government terror watchlist. Blogger Bob, who writes for the TSA blog, seems to find Mikey's situation amusing.

In fact, here's a quote from Blogger Bob: "It’s inevitable that every several months or so, some cute kid gets their mug posted on a major news publication with a headline reading something like: “Does this look like a terrorist to you?” Anything involving kids or cats gets tons of mileage and everybody starts tweeting and retweeting that there’s an 8 year old on the no fly list."

There has been no shortage of comments on the TSA's blog. Here's a good one: "In the meantime, we still get to touch your children... all in the name of safety." - abelard

And we all know I can't help but have something to say. Here it is:




This is what I find most disturbing about the mistakes being made as to the "special" screenings of children.


As parents, we take pains to remind our children that they have the right to bodily integrity and control. "You don't have to let anyone touch you in 'places.'" (That's what we called it when my children were, well, children.)


Small children have a need to see their parents as "all powerful." They need this to feel safe in a world much bigger than they are. This is crucial to a child's psycho-social development. A young child needs to feel that her parents can outfight any "bad guy" who tries to bother or hurt her.


I cannot imagine standing for either of my boys being frisked by a stranger while crying with terror. Those who know me probably can't imagine it either. I tend to be aggressive when it comes to my children. Seriously aggressive.


I have to say I'm surprised that no child has fought back, or that no parents have stepped in to physically defend their children. It's only a matter of time.

Y'all need to shape up before somebody gets hurt.

Tags: Dorothy Kernaghan-Baez, AFRA, family rights, twitter, cyber-dissident, politics, TSA, terrorism, cyber-dissident, Family, Law Enforcement,

An Open Letter to Paul Watson

I have long admired Paul Watson of Sea Shepherd. Watson wrote an article this past Friday as a response to a news item posted on ChristianNewsWire I was disturbed to read that Watson has such a low opinion towards people of faith. So I have written an open letter to him. I've tried my best to use a gentle tone and to not be my usual bitchy, snarky self. So here goes. Ahem....

Dear Captain Watson:

I am in complete agreement with Sea Shepherd's goals of protecting the oceans and those who live there. My commitment to everyone who inhabits the earth is, for me, an extension of my Christian faith. Granted my beliefs may be considered eclectic, but I do believe. So I have some things to say to you about your negative attitude towards religious people. Here goes:

You are a public figure. There's no escaping that fact. People listen when you speak. Calling the Bible "a silly over-rated book written by a gang of chauvinistic sheep herding thugs in the desert a few thousand years ago" is insulting to the very people of faith who have such potential for providing support for your cause.

Social movements are often begun and supported by people of faith. So it may be in yours and Sea Shepherd's best interests to at least not go out of your way to insult the very people who could be dedicated supporters. Please consider this.

You are right when you say that all of God's creatures are interdependent. And, yes I'm calling all of us "God's creatures." That's my worldview and what guides my actions. I'm not insulting you or what you believe. Please consider treating people of faith with the same respect.

I'm sorry that you think we are all just "animals." I believe that all God's creatures, including people, have souls and a divine spark inside. Even if there was no extinction crisis afoot, I would still be in favor of saving individuals. To my way of thinking, seeing individuals instead of only species, is a Christ-like view of the world. And my goal as a human being is to do my best to be Christ-like. That goal is a valid one, and people like me are not deserving of ridicule. Moving on....

You call religious and spiritual beliefs "biblical fantasies of a monkey God figure in the sky." Then you basically call God a dumb-ass: "he certainly has not demonstrated much expertise in stewardship considering the mass extinction of species we are presently responsible for." The stewardship issue is due to the sinful nature of human beings. It's not God's fault we're irresponsible and destructive.

I'm not asking you to suddenly find Jesus. All I'm asking is that you refrain from purposefully insulting those of us who have. You say you don't worship whales. Neither do I. But we both want to help them. Please don't make enemies out of Christians just for the sake of feeling superior to us.

Sincerely,

Dorothy Kernaghan-Baez




Tags: Dorothy Kernaghan-Baez, AFRA, family rights, twitter, cyber-dissident, tarot cards, psychic, DFACS, Georgia, politics, Paul Watson, Sea Shepherd

Are My Hands Clean?

Are My Hands Clean?

Some food for thought...... Are your hands and clothes really clean?

(Lyrics and music by Bernice Johnson Reagon. Songtalk Publishing Co. 1985)


I wear garments touched by hands from all over the world

35% cotton, 65% polyester, the journey begins in Central America

In the cotton fields of El Salvador

In a province soaked in blood,

Pesticide-sprayed workers toil in a broiling sun

Pulling cotton for two dollars a day.

Then we move on up to another rung—Cargill

A top-forty trading conglomerate, takes the cotton through the Panama Canal

Up the Eastern seaboard, coming to the US of A for the first time

In South Carolina

At the Burlington mills

Joins a shipment of polyester filament courtesy of the New Jersey petro-chemical mills of Dupont

Dupont strands of filament begin in the South American country of Venezuela

Where oil riggers bring up oil from the earth for six dollars a day

Then Exxon, largest oil company in the world,

Upgrades the product in the country of Trinidad and Tobago

Then back into the Caribbean and Atlantic Seas

To the factories of Dupont

On the way to the Burlington mills

In South Carolina

To meet the cotton from the blood-soaked fields of El Salvador

In South Carolina

Burlington factories hum with the business of weaving oil and cotton into miles of fabric for Sears

Who takes this bounty back into the Caribbean Sea

Headed for Haiti this time—May she be one day soon free—

Far from the Port-au-Prince palace

Third world women toil doing piece work to Sears specifications

For three dollars a day my sisters make my blouse

It leaves the third world for the last time

Coming back into the sea to be sealed in plastic for me

This third world sister

And I go to the Sears department store where I buy my blouse

On sale for 20% discount

Are my hands clean?





Tags: Dorothy Kernaghan-Baez, AFRA, family rights, twitter, cyber-dissident, tarot cards, psychic, DFACS, Georgia, politics