Waterboarding

After hearing so much on the news about Obama's decision to close Guantanamo Bay, and various discussions on the subject of the US military using torture to extract information from the prisoners, I finally went and read about what exactly waterboarding was.

(Please take a look at the Wiki link above if you don't know what waterboarding is.)

To say that I am shocked would probably tell you how naive I am about what's going on in the world, and I know I am naive. Truly, it is hard for me to believe that something like this is going on in a democratic country. Not only that, but I am also very bothered with a question: if this is what is going on south of the border, then is Canada really different and we would never do something like this, or are we just the same as our neighbours, and would act exactly as they do, should a similar situation arise? Would our Armed Forces, 'proudly Canadian' as they call themselves, be quite capable of doing the same? Would our citizens stand by and watch something like this happen? Would we, like one of the characters in "Hotel Rwanda" put it, say, "oh, how terrible", and go back to our dinners? Something is telling me we would. But maybe, if those of you reading this already know about the US military using torture in their prisons, if you have gone and read the wiki article, if you have been following the news about the situation, if you vote, and think very carefully before you vote, if you will go and read more once you finish reading this post—then maybe, just maybe, we won't simply stand by. I hope so.