From opendemocracy
Imagine that you are on your way to work, coffee in hand, one December morning when three men in United States military uniforms, armed with guns, approach you. They say your name; you acknowledge it.One of them slams you in the chest, knocking your briefcase and coffee to the ground, but not before the hot beverage spills on your hand, burning you. The men throw a heavy plastic black hood over your head. You can see nothing. It is very hard to breathe. You are confused and scared out of your mind. You do not have any idea what these men might want. What happened to the quiet day you were expecting? How can you get word to your family? Nobody knows where you are. They will be paralysed with worry.
You are helpless: this cannot be. This is a free country, not a totalitarian state. This is "the greatest country in the world." Things like this happen in other places, not here. Innocent people are protected here; innocent people are not jailed and abused for no reason, not here.
You are thrown into the back of a pickup truck with a lot of other people. Even through the hood you can smell the fear of others bound and hooded like you. You call out: "This is a mistake! Why am I here? I have done nothing!" You are punched hard in the stomach; it knocks the wind out of you. The truck moves; you are jostled against those next to you.
