There is a hell, and it’s called Guantanamo. It’s hard to believe, as we go about our days here in America, enjoying our relatively great freedom, that there is a place where our government imprisons the innocent and tortures at will. (Some would argue that this goes on every day in our domestic prison system, but not, I think, to the same extent.)

Everybody should watch “The Road to Guantanamo” (2006), available on Netflix and at Amazon. It’s the story of the Tipton Three, the Pakistani-born British kids who were imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay for three years. They were utterly innocent, and finally released—but not before being submitted to years of unspeakable acts. You just have to watch it to put yourself there. Guantanamo should rightfully be synonymous with Auschwitz. In some ways I think an existence there is worse than at Auschwitz—where at least there was some companionship with one's fellow prisoners. At Guantanamo, everyone is separated. Hooded. Goggled. Sleep-deprived. Shackled. Submitted to endless accusations and beatings and worse. The Dr. Mengeles of psychiatry have schooled U.S. forces in the road to complete enslavement.

It's sadism and tyranny in a high-tech military setting with a lot of fancy arguments to justify its existence. All to justify the war machine, somebody's bottom line. A war on terror needs terrorists—to hell with whether or not they’re really terrorists.

Of the 775 detainees brought to Guantanamo Bay since the beginning of the war in Afghanistan, over 400 have been released. As of last year, around 350 remained. Many who have already been cleared for release are still waiting for some country to accept them after they have been tainted with the false designation of "terrorist." Of these roughly 350, the U.S. says it plans to put up to 80 on trial. This month, the Bush administration announced that 6 detainees would be prosecuted for conspiracy in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Good timing, with the election coming up.

Who are we, that we allow Guantanamo to continue? And what can we do about it? Its existence threatens our own freedom, and compromises our hope for anything resembling morality.