Well, they're gonna put me in the files now...

[miss_yt]

I can't believe I wrote this.



Dear Mr. President,

I don't know if this letter will induce you to pause for thought, or if you will even read it, but I feel it's better for me to speak at this juncture and hope to be heard, rather than be silent in the face of grave injustice.

I follow the news closely and I understand that the House and Senate have both passed a bill regarding the treatment of detainees who are classified as enemy combatants. As I understand it, they are denied the right of habeas corpus, of being able to confront evidence against them if it is classified, and even the right to protection from certain cruel and unusual punishments. If you sign off on the bill, it will be somewhat of an improvement on their situation, but it's less than they should get from a democratic government - even one that is not their own.

Yes, I'm aware that we are in danger both at home and abroad. There are lots of people out there who are so insensible with hate towards us that they attack blindly with the sole intent of causing as much death and destruction as they can, regardless of who else they may hurt. I am aware that information from detainees will help us protect ourselves from such attacks. But it would be as dangerous to deny them basic legal rights and protections in the spirit of the Geneva Convention as it would be to relax our guard against terrorist attacks.

To clarify, I am not speaking of the oft-stated pragmatic reasons why we should treat enemy combatants according to the Geneva Conventions: you have heard those reasons as many times as I have and you have obviously have not been convinced. The reason has more to do with the values upon which our country was built - the idea that all human beings are created equal and that they deserve certain basic rights. The people we are concerned with are neither citizens nor friends of America - quite the opposite - but if we do not treat them fairly in the courts and humanely as possible in prison, or ensure to the best of our ability that they are treated humanely while not under our direct control, then we contradict one of the core values of democracy. When we start making exceptions to those core values, even for the worst sort of people, we debase and even undermine that which we purport to hold dear.

You, as President, are responsible not only for preserving our physical well-being, but the institutions and ethics of our democracy. I know that in these times it is hard to balance those responsibilities and sometimes compromises must be made. But we should never compromise on basic human and legal rights - for if we live without a sense of rationality, ethics, or fairness to other human beings, then our lives aren't worth much at all.

I beg you not to sign the detainee bill as it stands. Please put it through another round of debate until it is modified to more accurately reflect the respect for human dignity welfare that our country is built upon.

Respectfully yours,
Hannah Wald



Yep, I sent it to comments@whitehouse.gov, just as you see it.

I think the best I can hope for is that what I said will not be considered and I will be put under surveillance, or at least in a classified file somewhere. The worse that could happen? Not being listened to at all.

What I really can't believe is that I was this polite, considering how angry I am about the whole thing.

Ah, well. We'll see what happens. Or doesn't.

Comments

[arcessita.livejournal.com]

The fact that this:

I think the best I can hope for is that what I said will not be considered and I will be put under surveillance, or at least in a classified file somewhere.

has become a fact of life means you NEEDED to write this letter.

Well written, and well played.

[alashiya.livejournal.com]

They'll probably just write you off as a nut (since you don't agree with them, you are, ipso facto, a nut) and round-file you.