I just spoke to someone...

...who told me something that I didn't know but doesn't surprise me one little bit. Did you know that the guy in charge at Abu Griab (I'm sure that I spelled that wrong, but I'm talking about the prison where the American's created a large pile of naked enemy people) was, in civilian life, a real prison guard? I suppose that to the Army it made perfect sense to put a regular prison worker in charge of a prisoner camp. I must admit that it would have made sense to me before I had been in one myself. But there's no reason that a middle aged grandmother should know certain things...a government hiring guards for a prison camp should probably have some clue about the people they put in charge of their detainees.

I bet they do. I can't believe, I will not believe, that the United States Government doesn't know what's going on inside the jails of this country. I suppose they could have known exactly what they were doing, maybe they specifically wanted cruel people with less than educable IQ's in charge of the enemys of our country. If so, they went to the right place when they hired an experienced American prison guard. But they should have just said so when the media found out about the abuses that took place. They should have just said, "Sure we treated them like dirt...they're the enemy!"

But instead, they tried to make excuses and coddle the press. And what about the press? Why are they so concerned about enemy prisoners when American citizens are being treated as something less than human simply because they have been accused of a crime but, in many cases, not convicted?

American citizens who have been accused of a crime don't seem to have the same rights and/or protections that enemys do when it come to being incarcerated.

The following is a list of protections that enemy prisoners of war are entitled to that, in my experience, American inmates are not entitled to...these rights come from the Geneva Convention:

(c) outrages upon personal dignity, in particular, humiliating and degrading treatment;

2) The wounded and sick shall be collected and cared for.

Prisoners of war must at all times be humanely treated. Any unlawful act or omission by the Detaining Power causing death or seriously endangering the health of a prisoner of war in its custody is prohibited,

Likewise, prisoners of war must at all times be protected, particularly against acts of violence or intimidation and against insults

Prisoners of war are entitled in all circumstances to respect for their persons and their honour.

Prisoners of war may be interned only in premises located on land and affording every guarantee of hygiene and healthfulness.

Prisoners of war shall be quartered under conditions as favourable as those for the forces of the Detaining Power who are billeted in the same area. The said conditions shall make allowance for the habits and customs of the prisoners and shall in no case be prejudicial to their health.

The premises provided for the use of prisoners of war individually or collectively, shall be entirely protected from dampness and adequately heated and lighted,

I'm sure that American jails are varied in the protection of their prisoners from one jail to the next. But the preceeding list contains rights that were not accorded to the prisoners that I was incarcerated with in either Cobb County Jail and/or Bartow County jail. I would like to see the government investigate these two jails for the violations that I have been witness to. Keep in mind that many of the people that I was locked up with were not convicted of any crime and others were convicted, or at least accused, of crimes such as non payment of fines and other such silly offenses.

OK, now I'm too tired to write anymore and since I'm free right now, I'm going to go to bed in my nice, warm bed. Once I have had some rest, I will do a bit more research on the subject and find other violations that are being committed upon Americans at this very time.

See ya,

Meg