Polish Political Cynicism

You would think that a country like Poland, which went through so much being a "satellite" of the "evil empire" of the Soviet Union, and led the movement that, ultimately, brought it down; the birthplace of Pope John Paul II and Solidarity and Lech Walesa, all darlings and icons of Western democracy, freedom and human rights, would be extremely sensitive to and not consent to or tolerate any abuse in its soil based on national security or politics, those being the usual excuses used by the regimes that it had endured for decades.

Well, not really.

It seems that the post-Soviet-era Poles were more than willing to accommodate American secret prisons where the CIA, ten years ago, tortured those it deemed necessary in the "war on terrorism." Apparently, the only "bad" torture was the Soviet one, and the Polish government did not mind working hand-in-glove with another foreign power in violating its own Constitution, as well as international law, allowing this brutality to go on, and then denying it to its own citizens and the rest of the world, even when it was revealed.

Funny how yesterday's crimes become today's acceptable procedures by those who decried the ones committed by the "enemy." It seems clear that Poland has gone from being a Soviet satellite to an American lap dog.