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Obama, Merkel, Elie Wiesel and another Buchenwald survivor
Obama in Buchenwald: "We are here today because this work is not yet finished."
Damned right we're not finished. So much of what Obama said seemed to apply to America's shameful prisons-- Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo.
Obama said, "Hatred that degrades its victims and diminishes us all."
As does the hatred and degradation of torture-- of rape, forced nudity, distrespect of the koran...
Obama said, "We must be ever vigilant of the spread of evil in our time."
And that vigilance includes bringing to justice the perpetrators of that evil, whoever they are, wherever they are no matter what the excuse and coverup they attempt.
America has a debt to pay to humanity, a debt to clean up and make right what has been perpetrated.
Elie Wiesel described watching his father slowly die in Buchenwald and lamented, "What can I tell him? That the world has learned? I am not sure."
And so far, we can be certain that Obama has failed to make things right.
Obama says, "I will not forget what I have seen here."
I pray he does not and that he also remembers the way noble Americans did the right thing after world war two. Part of remembering is learning and then making the right choices. Obama must pursue the American perpetrators of torture and murder of prisoners. Anything less will be a violation of the promises he made today.
