For a decade, I have been trying to get the use of torture at Diego Garcia investigated, to no avail.  Nevertheless, I made a vow to the men who have been tortured and held prisoner there that I would not forget them, and that I would continue to do what I could on their behalf.  I undertook this task as a lightworker, doing my best to bring the light of truth into what I considered the darkest place on the planet.

Diego Garcia is actually a beautiful island in the middle of the Indian Sea with all the light of the tropics pouring down on it.  Now that I'm living in Malaysia, I'm probably as close as anyone can be to it, but I'm still 1,000 miles away.  That's how isolated Diego Garcia is.  And that is why I think it's such a dark place, because torture gets carried out there, far from the scrutiny of the civilized world.

It's a great location geophysically, strategically located as a military base to support attacks in a number of places on the Asian continent:  Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, etc. 

 So that's why I've decided to start a movement to shut down Diego Garcia... to deprive the U.S. of a major strategic military base and to end the practice of torture there.  Getting access to Diego Garcia to investigate allegations of torture have been unsuccessful, (and I've tried), nobody has been able to get in there, not  the Red Cross International or Amnesty, or any of the major organizations that work against the use of torture.

I've tried to get U.S. senators involved.  I've contacted members of the British Parliament also.  Diego Garcia is actually British territory, but they leased it to the U.S. back in 1966, I think it was, and the U.S. has been building it up as a military base ever since then (after evicting the local Chagossians, that is, but that's another story).

I've written about Diego Garcia off and on over the years.  I've corresponded with other journalists who've written about Diego Garcia.  It's been discouraging.  First of all, nobody wants to discuss the use of torture.  They don't mind watching scenes of excruciating torture in the latest James Bond movie, but it makes them nervous to even discuss bringing about an end to it.

 So, how does one go about starting a movement like this?  I suppose that first I should link with the no-base movement.  Actually, the first step was writing this.  The next step is writing an article about steps that need to be taken by a number of people to create a groundswell of public opinion to stop violence against each other in every form:  through economic policies and manipulation of markets and sanctions, through war, through torture, through the use of drones, through brutal police methods such as tasering.

And from there, actual actions, projects and steps we can take to bring about this desired change in our world.  I don't want to hear anyone say ever again, I do nothing because I am powerless, and there is nothing I can do, so why even cause myself the least bit of discomfort even thinking about it.  I don't want to hear that excuse any more.

The truth is each one of us is powerful.  We are great, powerful beings who determine our collective reality with every decision we make, with every word we speak, with every thought we hold, with every breath we take.  This is not an abstraction to me. 

See how it feels to consider yourself powerful?  It could just be a little shift in recognizing how you have contributed to the lives around you, how you've cheered someone up who was despondent, how you've taught another person a skill, how you've made people laugh, how you've loved someone, how you've overcome adversity, solved problems, kept going despite obstacles in your path.

Don't anyone tell you that you are powerless... or helpless... or inconsequential.  Don't believe any of these lies ever again.  You have the power of will.  You have the power of love.  You have the power of the creative force of the universe at your fingertips.  You have the power of focus.  You have the power of perseverance.  You have the power of the collective consciousness.

We all have the ability to change our world.  It's time to get cracking and get done what we want to have done.