Health, Freedom and Torture

What is the connection between health, freedom and torture? [Other than the obvious effect on the health and freedom of the victim.]

People who are involved in the holistic healing arts understand that the health of a society is a function of, among other factors, its beliefs and its treatment of the helpless (such as the sick, the poor and prisoners).

The first rule is "Do no harm." And therefore healers must speak out against torture.

Dr. Ron Paul on torture: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Skeom9K8fww

"The government’s own actions and operations in torturing people, and in acting on illegally obtained and unreliable information to kill and capture, are the most radicalizing forces at work today, not any religion, nor the fact that we are rich and free. The fact that our government engages in evil behavior under the auspices of the American people is what poses the greatest threat to the American people, and it must not be allowed to stand."

http://www.voteronpaul.com/newsDetail.php?Ron-Paul-Torturing-the-Rule-of-Law-1097

In other comments the good doctor strongly condemned physicians and psychiatrists who worked for the government torture programs. He remains the voice of ethics and morality, in a govt becoming a vile parody of the evil empires of the past.

"The NBC News analysis shows that more than one quarter of all footnotes in the 9/11 Report refer to CIA interrogations of al-Qaida operatives who were subjected to the now-controversial interrogation techniques. In fact, information derived from the interrogations is central to the Report’s most critical chapters, those on the planning and execution of the attacks. The analysis also shows - and agency and commission staffers concur - there was a separate, second round of interrogations in early 2004, done specifically to answer new questions from the Commission."

http://www.campaignforliberty.com/blog.php?view=18224

This was waterboarding, not to prevent an immanent terrorist attack, but rather to obtain a false "confession" to "justify" a preemptive war of aggression. Clearly a war crime under the Nuremberg Code and under In re Yamashito (the Japanese general in charge of the Philippines who was hung for not preventing war crimes, including the waterboarding of US soldiers).

The only people who can hold these war criminals accountable are the American people. I urge all freedom-loving Americans to accept their personal responsibility to do something about this. We are responsible for the misbehavior of the govt. Refuse to vote for either the right-wing neocons of the (sic) Republican Party or the left-wind neocons of the (sic) Democratic Party. The alternative is to vote for the Principled Third Parties.

http://vitaminlawyerhealthfreedom.blogspot.com/2008/09/political-breakthrough-third-party.html

The health and freedom of our society depend on standing against these evils and the parties that perpetuate them. Nothing less will restore the Republic.