Written by James and Jean Anton   

You made my decision about voting in November 2012 much simpler.

On 8 March 2008, nearly two years ago to the day, while you were campaigning, you made your position on torture wonderfully clear. You said: "We need a commander in chief who has never wavered on whether or not it is acceptable for America to torture, because it is never acceptable.” You repeated this sentiment many times during your campaign.
“NEVER ACCEPTABLE!”
You were going to change the Bush/Cheney evil. You were going to restore America’s dignity.

That was when you were a rock star, Mr. President. When everyone thought you were going to provide the kind of transformational, moral and ethical leadership this country so desperately needed.
You were going to lead us out of one of the darkest periods in American history.

After getting elected, you said: “I intend to close Guantanamo, and I will follow through on that. I have said repeatedly that America doesn’t torture, and I’m going to make sure that we don’t torture. Those are part and parcel of an effort to regain America’s moral stature in the world.”

You received the Nobel Peace Prize because you spoke words like that. You probably didn’t deserve it then. But you raised the level of hope to heights that the world thought would never happen.
The whole world wanted to celebrate.

Move to the present, two years forward.
A few days ago, on 11 March 2011, you were asked at a news conference if you agreed with the statements of Phillip J. Crowley, who was an aide to Hillary Clinton and a top State Department spokesman, who said the detention of Bradley Manning was “ridiculous, counterproductive and stupid.”

You replied to the question by saying that solitary confinement for almost 300 days before being convicted or even tried was “appropriate.”
To stress your point, you had Crowley fired.

Manning’s solitary confinement consists of living 23 of 24 hours a day in a cell that is only 6 feet by 12 feet in a brig in Quantico, Virginia. He is not allowed to nap. If he tries to sleep (he is forcibly drugged), he is forced to sit up or stand by the guards. Any attempt to keep him busy by doing push ups or sit ups, or even stretching is forbidden. He is allowed one hour of exercise a day (not in open air) in an empty room where he walks figures of eight. He is required to sleep with his face facing the door; the lights are kept on 24 hours a day, and he is deprived of sheets or a pillow. He has to surrender his clothes before going to sleep, and is not permitted to have pajamas. Recently he was forced to present himself and sleep in the nude, but that part of the regime, under public pressure, was rescinded.

You had the audacity to claim the above regime was for Manning’s own “safety.” That he was being protected from himself.

But it is abundantly clear that real goal was and still is to punish him before convicting him of anything; and to break him down. To force him to give evidence (that he cannot have... WikiLeaks only accepts anonymous tips) against the person you hate even more than you do Manning, Julian Assange, the whistle blower who founded WikiLeaks. You may also want to make an example of him to other would-be whistle-blowers.

Unfortunately for you, the rest of the world does not buy the treatment that you say is “appropriate.” Here is what the United Nations Convention Against Torture (to which the United States is a signatory) would prohibit:

Any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person, information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity.

Furthermore you rationalization for using torture does not hold water:

No exceptional circumstances whatsoever may be invoked to justify torture, including war, threat of war, internal political instability, public emergency, terrorist acts, violent crime, or any form of armed conflict. Torture cannot be justified as a means to protect public safety or prevent emergencies. Neither can it be justified by orders from superior officers or public officials. The prohibition on torture applies to all territories under a party's effective jurisdiction, and protects all people under its effective control, regardless of citizenship or how that control is exercised. Since the Conventions entry into force, this absolute prohibition has become accepted as a principle of customary international law.

One-hundred-and-forty-seven countries in the world have signed the declaration. The country you now lead is a signatory.

So why am I thanking you?

I am thanking you because you have made my choice in 2012 clear.
No matter what, I will not be able vote for you because despite your stated predisposition to compromise when it comes to the health and well-being of average Americans, the use of torture can never be compromised.

Besides being immoral, torture does not work.
If Manning finally broke down and told you what you wanted to hear under torture, there would be no way to prove that he would be telling the truth. All torture victims eventually confess to whatever the torturers want to hear. Many of the women accused of being witches in Salem admitted under torture or the threat of torture to having supernatural powers given to them by the devil. The threat of torture made Galileo retract his statement that the earth revolves around the sun.

America’s only hope is that some brave soul dares to challenge and defeat you in a primary election.

PS: If I were you, I would continue to take as many expensive trips to foreign countries (with your huge entourage of secret service agents and special corporate executive friends) as you can, because you will most likely have the same problem that ex-President George W. Bush has when you are finished playing President. Ex-President George W. Bush can’t step foot in 147 countries without being arrested for violating the terms of the Convention Against Torture.

Here is the list of countries that the ex-President of the United States of America, cannot visit without being arrested:

Afghanistan, Algeria, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece , Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Holy See, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal , Qatar, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, Slovenia, Somalia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Sudan, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Thailand, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia , Timor-Leste, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Yemen, Zambia

Apparently these countries take torture seriously.
And they DO look back.

James and Jean Anton are currently writing “THE GOD THING”, soon to be published by LightYears Publishing.