In loving memory

On this, the anniversary of Sept. 11, I am embittered by continued reports of human rights violations excused as a response to that atrocity which has become most close to the patriotic heart. It can be agreed upon by all that the loss of life that day was monstrous, and the blow to our confidence and sense of security was terrifying. No American with sense can argue that we should just let these things go or brush it off as an isolated incident carried out by a small group of extremists. As the suicide bombers and al-Zarqawis of the world show us, there are many sick, desperate people who enjoy making statements by massacring the innocent. As the Geneva Convention has set forth, such people must be brought to justice. However, to do so with lies, cover-ups, tortures and terror is certainly not the correct way to go about it. To utilize such methods makes our administration no better than any other terrorist organization. \nThe 9/11 victims have been used by the Bush administration as an easy tool by which to bolster support for this quandary of a war that has resulted in such shining moments in our history as the Guantanamo Bay scandals, the Mahmudiyah incident (in which, allegedly, a family was murdered and a little girl gang-raped at the "hands" of the Army), the Hamdani Incident (in which a civilian was executed and a Marine cover-up ensued), wire-tapping, bank account spying and now secret CIA prisons (among who knows what else we haven't been privy to). These violations are a desecration of the memory of those innocents who were murdered that September morning. \nThe administration says we are chasing enemies -- enemies responsible for the attack. We are continuously told the "ghost story" of the ever-nebulous al-Qaida. We were lied to about WMD. We were drawn into the drama of Osama bin Laden (not that I particularly care about the whereabouts of that old scapegoat, but what ever happened there?). The military is depriving people of their basic human rights all over the place, and we still don't have any answers. It's time for the government to come clean about the Sept. 11 conspirators or admit that such a search has lead them in circles, and stop using the victims to bolster its own interests.\nThis is an issue that should not be forgotten come November at the congressional polls. Forget party lines, and vote into power men and women who will continue to hold the White House and military responsible for their actions. I want a government that prosecutes the guilty in the light of day. If our government were indeed doing the right things, then there would be no reason to hide. Instead of flying in the face of the Geneva Convention, the Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the way to honor the memory of those lost in the 9/11 tragedy is to pursue the factions responsible -- honestly, justly and without ulterior motives.