If you or a loved one were subjected to the same treatment Murat Kurnaz was...

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

...without just cause, do you think you might become radicalized to the point of becoming a terrorist/freedom fighter yourself?

And secondly, should we be surprised if Murat Kurnaz becomes radicalized and willing to participate in or promote violence against the U.S.?

Note: For the purposes of this poll, a terrorist/freedom fighter is someone willing to strike out in violence against an oppressive authority.

http://alternet.org/rights/55993/

--SNIP--

FIFTEEN AMERICAN SOLDIERS WATCHED over a man, shackled to a seat in the cargo bay of a C-17 Globemaster -- the Air Force workhorse that usually moves Abrams tanks, Chinook helicopters or infantry vehicles. Wearing goggles that shut out all light, a soundproof headset and a mask that covered his mouth so he could not speak, spit or bite, the prisoner arrived at Ramstein Air Force Base in Kaiserslautern, Germany, under the tightest security. The plane had burned through 36,000 gallons of jet fuel and had refueled in flight. During the seventeen-hour ride, the prisoner was provided with neither food nor water. Nor was he allowed to stretch his legs or relieve himself.

This was how what had been the world's greatest democracy when George W. Bush took the presidential oath in 2001 repatriated an innocent man who'd never represented a security threat to the United States. Murat Kurnaz was nineteen when he was taken off a bus in Peshawar, Pakistan. He had, as many first- or second-generation Muslims in Europe do, turned to a religion his family had abandoned when they emigrated from their native land. His religious awakening put him in proximity to Islamic fundamentalists: sufficient justification for detention by American forces, after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, as a supposed member of Al Qaeda.

Kurnaz was twenty-four and had been the last European held at the American prison camp in Cuba when the Globemaster touched down in Kaiserslautern in August 2006. He didn't know he'd been returned home to Germany until an American enlisted man removed his goggles and he saw three German policemen standing outside the airplane.

"He was dumped on German soil like some sort of alien," said Bernhard Docke, one of Kurnaz's attorneys, from the north German city of Bremen...

[William769]

1. All I can say is I have had families in POW camps

In WWII (Japan) and in Vietnam. I am not a terrorist to either Nation.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

3. I'm sorry for the suffering...

...of your family members who were taken prisoner, and also for the pain it surely must've caused you.

[Jim__]

2. This form of sensory deprivation is used pervasively against prisoners by the US.

I listened to an attorney for the Guantanomo detainees. He said this is common practice, and it destrys the minds of the people it is used against. Most of these prisoners are unable to participate in their own defense because their minds have been largely destroyed. America and all Americans will pay a very heavy price for this barbarity. It speaks very badly of the American character that we as a people tolerate our governemnt behaving this way.

George Bush is a scumbag. But, we are cowards for allowing this.

[MindPilot]

4. 36,000 gallons of fuel to haul one guy?

This is why I can't too excited about my own little puny efforts at conservation; 36,000 gallons would get me and my Nissan to work and back every day for 57 years.

That said, back on topic, I sure as hell wouldn't have much in the way of good feelings toward the people who did that to me.

edit to change "would" to "wouldn't"

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

5. I for one applaud and thank you for whatever conservation efforts you make...

...even though our own government sets a shameful and horrendous example for all to see on conservation.

BushCo has, however, broken the shame meter with their promotion, practice, and incredibly lame defense of torture.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

6. Kick for larger sample. nt.

[Greyhound]

7. Yes and No.

I would have to spend the rest of my life doing anything I could to bring them down.

[LWolf]

8. Yes and no.

Yes, I could become a freedom fighter. No, I would never perpetrate acts of terror upon innocent people.