I realized the point of both Michael Moore in “Sicko” and then the Health Care for All repeating his example is for the purpose of stating the Guantanamo Bay population had better health care than the US population. However this concept is disgustingly deceptive since there were in the beginning close to 1,000 people taken to this place with torture and many never to see their loved ones for more than a decade, including 22 juveniles between the ages of 12 and 18 years old in the facility or concentration camp; since it has had barb wiring surrounding it, with dogs, guards dressed for war, small cells where family and only a few times the press have been open to view- I call it a concentration camp, as that is what these type of structures were called during WWII. Many of the hostages shackled in Guantanamo had no charges, both Pres. Bush and Obama quickly cleared many for release, though the doors were not opened nor their shackles unlocked. The public was aware of the military being apt to torture in Guantanamo because they suspected the treatment could be like that of pictures showing the evidence of US military torturing Muslims in Abu Ghraib. The torture pictures of Abu Ghraib, were released to CBS News and the New York around March of 2004. I find no excuse for both Michael Moore and now the Health Care for All to continue using the most violated hostages by the U.S. to further their agenda. I do believe a single payer health care system would be good, but certainly not at the expensive of joining it with violent discrimination and violently harming innocent individuals with propagandized lies. Most of the information and activities that have gone on in Guantanamo, the U.S. government has tried to keep secret, but there are many people who seek to know the whole truth, including Andy Worthington, Scott Horton, Seton Hall Law School, Erling Borgen of Norway, Democracy Now and individuals that have been released, such as the Australian David Hicks. The guard Brandon Neely and Col. Davis who were forced to work in the concentration camp have also spoke out about the abuses. Journalist Jason Leopold interviewed David Hicks after having been in Guantanamo for over 5 years, which is posted on Truthout and on Andy Worthington’s website and he states both in the interview and in his autobiography, “Guantanamo: My Journey”, “I was beaten by US forces the first time I saw them and realized straight away that torture was going to be a reality. It was very scary. As I say in my book, I could not help thinking of the saying, “like trying to get blood from a stone,” and I was afraid of becoming that stone.” - See more at: andyworthington.co.uk/2011/02/21/ex-guantanamo-prisoner-david-hicks-gives-his-first-interview-to-jason-leopold-of-truthout/#sthash.zDVRpAnU.dpuf There is also the mention of purposefully withholding health care as torture as shown below on Andy Worthington’s web page: “In an investigative report for Truthout, my colleagues Jason Leopold and the psychologist and blogger Jeffrey Kaye have followed up on an important story they published three weeks ago, “Controversial Drug Given to All Guantánamo Detainees Akin to ‘Pharmacologic Waterboarding’” (which I cross-posted here, with commentary). In that article, they revealed how, in the months following the opening of Guantánamo on January 11, 2002, every single prisoner was forced to “take a high dosage of a controversial antimalarial drug, mefloquine, an act that an Army public health physician called ‘pharmacologic waterboarding. In my (Andy Worthington) introduction to that article, I noted how Jason and Jeff contributed significantly to a growing body of work demonstrating that the detention program in Guantánamo, and in the “high-value detainee” program in the CIA’s secret prisons, involved human experimentation, of which medical experiments like the antimalarial project were just a part. Much more remains to be uncovered, but their article was part of a number of reports this year which have begun to shed light on this disturbing aspect of the detainee program. Human experimentation first came to light prominently in “Experiments in Torture: Human Subject Research and Evidence of Experimentation in the ‘Enhanced’ Interrogation Program,” a report published by Physicians for Human Rights in June, and another important part of the story emerged in October, when Jason and Jeff (who has spent many years placing the “War on Terror” detention and interrogation policies in the wider context of CIA experimentation since the 1950s) published an article on Truthout entitled, “Wolfowitz Directive Gave Legal Cover to Detainee Experimentation Program,” revealing how the program had been given the green light by Cheney’s deputy in March 2002” - See more at: andyworthington.co.uk/2010/12/22/more-evidence-of-medical-experimentation-at-guantanamo/#sthash.fooEXb9u.dpuf Actually Omar Khadr who was taken to Guantanamo at 15 years old with a gunshot wound in his BACK, had medial care delayed purposefully and his story can be found on Cage Prisoners and the Guardian. Of course there is also the knowledge that men were water boarded in Guantanamo, which landed a Japanese soldier a 15 year sentence, and yet not only has the Bush administration received no penalty of jail, but Michael Moore has never apologized for suggesting these kidnapped, mostly uncharged or tried victims are being pointed to as to having good health care. Twenty-one years earlier, in 1947, the United States charged a Japanese officer, Yukio Asano, with war crimes for carrying out another form of waterboarding on a U.S. civilian. The subject was strapped on a stretcher that was tilted so that his feet were in the air and head near the floor, and small amounts of water were poured over his face, leaving him gasping for air until he agreed to talk (or lie). Asano was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) told his colleagues last Thursday during the debate on military commissions legislation. We punished people with 15 years of hard labor when waterboarding was used against Americans in World War II, he said. WP Politics and author Walter Pincus wrote this on Oct. 5, 2006. I would hope the Health Care for All organization would spend some time in research of the truth to provide a more reliable presentation about their organization. I am admitting I had my facts wrong as to whether or not Michael Moore was George Bush Jr.’s, cousin or if it was his film instructor, Kevin Rafferty, who was the cousin and I here and now apologize. It would be nice to see the Healthcare for all do the same and perhaps ask Michael Moore to do the same. However if we consider the testimony of the following it cannot be more obvious that the care provided for the hostages might have been enough to keep most of them alive, but not enough to provide true care for their health. Omar Deghayes, was a hostage in Guantanamo, who had his eye poked out purposefully, and is in the film Outside the Law, The Guantanamo Files. He also has his own Facebook page and website and when he was guest on Democracy Now said, “They are put through such mistreatment that many people have, we heard, died. And people lost their hands, lost their eyes, lost their limbs. Some people were subjected to sleep deprivation. They weren’t allowed to sleep. They were kept into cells where lights are open 24 hours every day and night, and they had to live under those conditions for six years. People were, where we were, subjected to beatings, fear every day, daily fear, and all sorts of mistreatment, without being convicted of any crime, which is—which is the most unacceptable thing. If you think about it, 10 years, a decade, and there are many people still in prison, and they haven’t been convicted of anything, and they’re subjected to all sorts of unlawfulness. The guards could do anything they wanted, in simple terms.” Col. Davis did not say the Guantanamo victims had good health care, but rather he said that Susan Crawford had admitted to torture and the stated the following for the reason Guantanamo was in Cuba, which seems to make Sen. Bill Frists statement impossible for at least all of the Guantanamo prisoners – all of the time; unless you are discounting the times they are tortured and have chemicals experimented on them, or their eyes poked out. COL. MORRIS DAVIS: “Well, military commissions were—Guantánamo was selected because there were people in the Bush administration thought it was beyond the reach of the law. And then military commissions, they looked back at 1942 and the trial of the eight Nazi saboteurs who, from the time they were captured through the Supreme Court to the time they were executed and buried, took 43 days by a military commission conducted in secret, and they thought that was the model. It certainly hadn’t worked out that way. And unfortunately, we sit here more than a decade later. I mean, we used to be the land of the free and the home of the brave; we’ve become the constrained and the cowardly for the past decade. And I would like to see us reverse that and get back to the principles that this country was founded on, which our strength being the law and not running from the law (copied from Democracy Now, Jan. 10, 2012).” There are a some more situations listed showing the situation of terror and horror of the Guantanamo hostages that Michael Moore and Health Care for All should have looked into when promoting what happened in the movie “ Sicko,.” There were three men in Guantanamo, who supposedly killed themselves while being tied up & having rags stuffed down their throats, and having a guard to check on them every few minutes or sooner. One of the men had been only 17 years old when he was brought into Guantanamo. A father of a British family, Shaker Aamer, is suspected of having to watch the three men tortured to death. This was reported by Scott Orton on harpers.org and titled The Guantanamo “Suicides: A Camp David Sergeant Blows the Whistle. Not only were the services and policies of health care kept as secret as possible on these people/hostages, but the Red Cross and others like Andy Worthington who wrote the only stories of most of the hostages, The Guantanamo Files The stories of the 774 Detainees in Americas Illegal Prison had to work to find out their names. I did check the facts on Michael Moore and I was wrong and apologize, the Health Care For All is correct because Michael Moores first film teacher, Kevin Rafferty, was George Bush Jr.s cousin and not Michael Moore, as I had wrongly stated. Michael Moore states on Democracy Now on Sep. 6, 2010 that And I didnt know anything about making a movie, and I hadnt gone to film school or whatever. but the year before, these people had come to Flint to make a movie about the Klan and the Nazis that were kind of preying on the unemployed at the time in Michigan, and they asked me if I would help them. And so, I said, sure because, you know, they knew of my paper. … And one of them had made a film called the Atomic Cafe, a documentary back in the 80s. ….. After stating this he states, so, a year later, I got the idea of making this movie, and I called up Kevin, who had made The Atomic Cafe, Kevin Rafferty, and asked him if he would come to Flint and teach me how to make a movie and he said, Yeah, Ill come there for a week, and brought his camera and some film and showed me how to operate the camera and the sound machine and everything. And we shot about sixty rolls of film. ….(Democracy Now, Sept. ” Then Michael Moore says when he was in Washington, DC. He saw Kevin Rafferty on the TV right behind Pres. Bush Sr. at his in inauguration and so he asked Kevin about how that came to be. Kevin told him he was George Bush Sr.s wifes sisters son; Or in other words the nephew of Pres. G. Bush Sr. and the cousin of Pres. G. Bush Jr. He stated that since he had gotten his start as a filmmaker from the Bush’s (relative) he did not want to say anything bad about them (Democracy Now). I had sent the following report to the Health Care for All & they replied, their reply has a different font for easier designation I attended training for Green Party candidates at the Mercury Cafe yesterday and it was wonderful with one large problem, which I write about at the end of this summary. The Green Party Training session had the two state CoChairs provide modeling of excellent speaking skills and Bill Bartlet recommended attendance to the Toast Masters. Chris Allen went over the foundational Green Party Ten Key Values, stating that they are a way of life and include Social Justice, Grass Roots Democracy, Non-violent conflict Resolution, Respect for our environment and more, which can be found on the Green Party of Colorado website. They provided directions about government required forms and deadlines, financial records, and Green Party requirements. Information about how to alert the public of campaigns without the big bribe money that is donated by corporations with the expectations of favors and how the Green Party does not accept cooperate donations or funding. Roya welcomed everyone, presented information, and introduced speakers. We had a number of candidates, Harry Hempy is the Green Party candidate for Governor, Gary Swing and another well informed Green member are going to be running for office, I will put more information in tomorrow when the sun comes up; although I am going to watch my daughter run a half marathon and pick up my mom from the airport. Another Green member attended the meeting who provided some very important information about how responsible, but economically hurting people are being evicted from their homes unjustly. I hope to connect more with Janet Matzen on this subject; but it was exciting to meet up with her. i was thrilled to see a couple of my informed female friends at the meeting. I loved seeing the males too of course, but I am a married woman and it is nice to have friendships with like-minded women. These women are truly caring as they attend events that take a little effort, of course the men are caring too. When it is daylight tomorrow I will include the outline and more details about the excellent information that was covered. After we learned important campaign information we had a presentation from a few people who were with the Health Care For All Colorado. I truly appreciated all they had to say, especially as they explained the difference between their organization as opposed to others. However I was extremely disappointed that they came in endorsing or supporting the movie Sicko, which has Michael Moore spouting Propaganda about how the men in Guantanamo Cuba have better care then those in the US despite they have been tortured to DEATH, had larger tubes then necessary stuffed down their throats as punishment for fasting while they are cleared to leave the Concentration Camp, but locked away for decades from their wives, children and loved ones; not to mention they have had sores infected not taken care of and then had their arms and legs amputated. The woman who spoke mentioned the Cubans healthcare, but in the Sicko movie they do not discuss the Cuban population, they are talking about the USs Concentration Camp in Cuba, which the Cuban government and its population have no control over and would never want to be responsible for such a program of terror. i dont think the director of Sicko, Michael Moore. Who is the cousin of George Bush (as he states in interview on democracynow.org) will ever apologize for this propaganda message in the movie that does contain other important truths, but I hope that Donna with the Health Care for All Colorado will apologize because it is not alright to imbed lies with truth and important truths as well as extremely harmful lies. I wanted to bring this up at the meeting, but there were so many questions and not a lot of time; so I apologize for not bringing it up then. 9:57am Interesting report, and thank you for attending. The Green Party has long supported universal single payer health care. While I dont know exactly what was said at your meeting, I know that statements in the movie SiCKO relating to the Guantanamo Bay detention facility were based on public records and claims about the level of health care available and provided to detainees (see some quotes below *). The point being made was the dichotomy of what the American government claims to offer prisoners versus what actual American citizens have access to in the US. The film obviously was not able to take us inside Gitmo to see if the claims were true, but it did take Americans (including Donna Smith) to a public Cuban hospital to receive the same kind of care available to Cuban citizens. You may want to check your facts about Michael Moore / Bush relationship. Moore is not related to the Bush family. One of Moores first film editors, Kevin Rafferty, was (unknown to Moore at the time) a cousin of G. W. Bush. The is Health Care For All’s reply: Thank you. * American officials claim that detainees at Guantanamo Bay receive excellent health care. There is still acute care 24 hours a day, in which surgical procedures, everything, can be performed right there in the detainee camps, but as those wounds healed and as the detainees got further and further away from acute injuries, there has been increasing emphasis on preventative care. Indeed, the immunization rate there is higher than in the United States of America…. Things such as screening for cancer have taken place there. Colonoscopies--a procedure which, as we all know, is used commonly in this country to screen for colon cancer--are performed there on a routine basis. The health personnel-to-detainee ratio is 1 to 4--remarkably high. That is all health personnel who are there. And I guess, as I left this briefing and the opportunity to talk to the doctors and the nurses and the psychologists and the psychiatrists, I left with an impression that health care there is clearly better than they received at home and as good as many people receive in the United States of America. Sen. Bill Frist (R-TN), remarks on Guantanamo Bay, U.S. Senate, September 12, 2006. They go out, they do sick call on the blocks three times per week, care for them there, if they can… We have diabetes. We have high blood pressure, high cholesterol. Those detainees -- weve created a population health database so that we can track those detainees to make sure were seeing them frequently, monitoring their labs and their overall health. Statement of Navy Commander Cary Ostergaard. Hearing Of The House Armed Services Committee Subject: Detainee Operations At Guantanamo Bay, June 29, 2005. Detainees receive medical, dental, psychiatric, and optometric care at U.S. taxpayers expense. In 2005, there were 35 teeth cleanings, 91 cavities filled, and 174 pairs of glasses issued. Ten Facts About Guantanamo, Department of Defense, September 14, 2006. defenselink.mil/home/dodupdate/For-the-record/documents/GuantanamoBay_Top10_ATTACHMENT2.doc
Posted on: Tue, 04 Mar 2014 00:29:37 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015