When Saying You're Sorry Isn't Enough

Former British resident Binyam Mohammad deplanes in London after being released from the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay.

Last week, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said that the U.S. is a nation of cowards for not facing up to racism in America. I dare say he's right, but for the time being, my conscience is too occupied with the apparently innocent victims who are gradually being released from the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

How do you say to these people, "I'm really sorry for what was done to you in our name"? And what good does that do anyway? How do you give restitution to them for 6 or 7 years stolen from their lives? How do you make up for the torture many of them were subjected to? Apology is where it starts, I suppose, but surely more is needed. No doubt, someone will offer the victims money, and they should think twice about refusing it. Although totally inadequate, monetary compensation may be useful when it comes to putting their lives back together. But it can't end there.

In South Africa, after the end of apartheid, a Truth and Reconciliation Commission was established to help damaged people, both victims and perpetrators, heal and get on with their lives. I think we should do the same thing with the released detainees from Guantanamo Bay and any other secret prisons that we ran after 9/11. Of course, it would help to have counterparts of Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu to make things work. It's hard for me to imagine who they would be. Can you think of anyone in the USA with the moral authority to oversee a Truth and Reconciliation Commission? Jimmy Carter, perhaps? But he would be condemned by many as partisan.

And then, you have to wonder if those responsible for the crimes and abuses would hear what was being said to them and recognize their deeds for what they are. If Binyam Mohammad could sit face to face with former President George W. Bush and tell him how he was treated as a result of Bush's policies, I actually think Bush would hear and be ashamed. But people like Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, John Yoo, Alberto Gonzales? I don't think so. But at a minimum, they should have to sit in a room and be confronted by their accusers, and I don't mean a courtroom, because it's too easy to manage what will be said there. No, I mean a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, where people can point a finger and say, "You destroyed my life. Why did you do it?"

The sooner the better.