What Country am I Living in?

Glenn Greenwald writes about the horrific way Jose Padilla has been treated FOR ALMOST 2 YEARS (6/9/02- 3/2/04):

He was kept in a unit comprising sixteen individual cells, eight on the upper level and eight on the lower level, where Mr. Padilla’s cell was located. No other cells in the unit were occupied. His cell was electronically monitored twenty-four hours a day, eliminating the need for a guard to patrol his unit. His only contact with another person was when a guard would deliver and retrieve trays of food and when the government desired to interrogate him.

His isolation, furthermore, was aggravated by the efforts of his captors to maintain complete sensory deprivation. His tiny cell – nine feet by seven feet – had no view to the outside world. The door to his cell had a window, however, it was covered by a magnetic sticker, depriving Mr. Padilla of even a view into the hallway and adjacent common areas of his unit. He was not given a clock or a watch and for most of the time of his captivity, he was unaware whether it was day or night, or what time of year or day it was. (emphasis mine)

Oh my God that literally makes me sick to my stomach. Greenwald goes on to describe more physical forms of torture, but can you imagine being in a little room with nothing to look at- for 2 years? That is torture. It makes me sick.
I really hate these people who have done this to my country.

UPDATE: Tristero adds:

After racking my brain, I can come up with only one reason why Padilla was held for 3 1/2 years without charges and tortured. It was not because Padilla had 3 1/2 years of information that needed to be elicited it from him. It was not because what he may have known was a state secret. Padilla was imprisoned and suffered simply because Bush wanted to prove he had the power to do so. To anyone, even Americans.

Yup. Sounds about right.