A recent big news item is the release of a highly redacted government report on the tortures that we committed in Iraq and other black sites around the world. The administration’s spin on the release of this report, which is being mirrored in the mainstream media, is that the most important thing about this is that it will endanger Americans when so-called terrorists learn what we did to so many of their friends and relatives. Actually, they already have a pretty good idea.

Our government is not worried about that; they’re worried about what we would do to our own leaders if we ever found out what they’ve done and continue to do in our name. Of course no mainstream media outlet will review the true and full nature of our nation’s crimes and subsequent cover-ups dedicated to avoiding accountability. Almost no one was charged or prosecuted for the crimes that we committed. (Just like bankers have all avoided accountability for what they did to our economy.) This report is being released because too many Americans are beginning to learn what our government has been up to, so it’s time for some damage control.

The current president of the United States says it’s true, “We did torture some folks.”

No. We tortured more than “some” folks. The crimes we committed in Iraq and other places are as violent, pervasive and cruel as almost any known tyrant you canname. Our crimes, cover-ups and lies have devastated the lives of untold millions and threaten untold millions more. We have been and are in the process of destroying other people’s hope for a decent future, and we are well on our way to destroying our own.

We are no longer one nation under God.  We are one nation cheating God.

— Mark Goldman