Memories

When I found out that this story, Five Years of My Life, was a memoir of a man who had been treated the horribly by American soldiers, I thought I was going to be sick. The things that the poor guy went through were unbearable not to mention inhumane. He was only a tourist and because he looked different and spoke a different language than the soldiers he was singled out and taken to be interrogated. I thought things would turn around for him quickly but they did not. They simply became worse and worse and time progressed. I was very upset at the end of the story. Especially upset when it came time for him to be reunited with his family and he did not even recognize them. Though I disagree with the torture methods used in Guantanamo I have to say that we are in a war and sometimes things need to happen that are not exactly pristine. What I am not saying is that we need to destroy a person’s world by torturing them every day as was described in the story, but there should be times when we capture enemies and interrogate them for information. To get the truth sometimes you have to break a person’s will and there are ways to do that that are not as inhumane as what this man witnessed but are strategies none the less. I guess what I am trying to say is that sometimes in extreme situations morals need to be pushed aside and not taken into account so that the general welfare of the nation and world as a whole is not endanger of complete annihilation.