Gitmo is killing him

Here is an op-ed piece from a hunger striker at Gitmo:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/15/opinion/hunger-striking-at-guantanamo-bay.html

It seems to me that this man is under a death sentence for no good reason. He has not been charged, he has received no trial, but if nothing changes he will die there nonetheless.

Take note of his statement:

I will not eat until they restore my dignity.

It was an unbearable affront to his dignity which led Tarek al-Tayeb Mohamed Bouazizi to kill himself in Tunisia, an event which precipitated the Arab Spring.

America does not seem to understand the concept that dignity is a prerequisite for human existence. I wonder why?

Unfortunately for the Gitmo hunger strikers, the Boston Marathon bombing will occupy the attention of Americans for quite some time. Many of them may die in its shadow.

Here's an interesting coincidence:

A group named "Voices in the Wilderness" once planned to hold a demonstration in major American cities to call attention to the plight of the children and people of Iraq who were starving from our economic sanctions. The demonstration was scheduled to begin on September 11, 2001.

You can guess what happened: in the wake of 9/11 there was no such demonstration, and the starvation of the Iraqi people continues to this day.

But "Voices in the Wilderness" was in fact recognized for their efforts: a federal judge ordered them to pay a $20,000 fine for feeding those starving Iraqi children. America, that's something of which you must be very proud.