Originally posted in my blog, the Intrepid Liberal Journal, as well as the Out of Iraq Bloggers Caucus, the Independent Bloggers Alliance, the Wild Wild Left and Worldwide Sawdust.

In 2001, Aidan Delgado was twenty-years old and in need of a life anchor. Delgado had primarily grown up abroad in far away places such as Cairo, Egypt, Thailand and Senegal due to his father's career as a diplomat. While attending college in Florida, Delgado felt culturally out of place and adrift. Having led an "ivory tower" existence of academia and privilege, Delgado opted to join the United States Army Reserves for a different perspective.

By sheer coincidence he signed his enlistment contract on September 11th. Those closest to him questioned the wisdom of Delgado's choice. The terrorist attacks convinced Delgado he made the correct decision as the country underwent a surge of patriotic feeling and rallying to the flag. At the time he was proud of having decided to join the United States Reserves before September 11th. Delgado didn't know it yet but the next three years of his life would transform his entire being.

After attending a Multifaith Voices for Peace and Justice, a Bay Area interfaith peace organization. steering committee meeting, where one of the major topics was our endorsement of an anti-torture campaign, I was flipping through the channels when I came across Bill O'Reilly interviewing Rev. Jim Wallis (editor of Sojourners). They were discussing an advertisement run in the New York Times by an organization called the National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) that called for America to put an end to torture. O'Reilly asked Rev. Wallis a simple question, which I was surprised to see Rev. Wallis fumble. Granted, an armchair quarterback always feels better prepared than the person truly in the hot seat, but, Rev. Wallis is acting as a spokesperson for this campaign and I wish he had a more accurate response to O'Reilly's question.

The question from O'Reilly was "What torture?" He wanted to know what examples of torture could be cited to justify a campaign against it, specifically a campaign that accused the United States of torturing people. Instead of citing specific examples, Rev. Wallis gave the impression that the campaign was more philosophical, and that investigations were necessary to show whether the United States was, or was not, conducting or condoning torture.

Major General Geoffrey Miller, the officer sent from Guantanamo Bay to Iraq to teach the MP's and intel teams at Abu Ghraib how to interrogate prisoners Gitmo-Style, has invoked his Article 31 right not to testify in the courts-martial of several dog handlers who are now being prosecuted. Shame shame General!

When you join the service, you do give up quite a few civil rights, but you still have the right to remain silent, not to incriminate yourself. That right is contained in the Uniform Code of Military Justice, Article 31 (very similar to the 5th amendment of the Constitution).

from the dead and wounded for profit, according to Harpers.org.

The article appeared in the Saudi newspaper Al-Watan in December, 2004. It has also been printed in Syria and Iran.

The story is not long.  Go read it.