I nearly broke into tears watching CNN coverage of Sami al-Hajj embracing his son after six years of captivity in Guntanamo Bay. The way he held him, a son too young to remember his father, and a father robbed of six years of his son’s life. As a father, watching this reunion hit me like a ton of bricks, and makes me ashamed for my country.

Al-Hajj was working as a reporter for Al Jazeera covering the war in Afghanistan when he was taken captive by Pakistani intelligence before being handed over to US forces. He was held captive without charge for six years in Guantanamo, despite the fact that he was carrying full credentials from Al Jazeera. Upon his return he spoke of his treatment, saying, “rats are treated with more humanity.”

I watch this and I wonder what justification we have to vilify China, or Iran, or any other country we deem to be morally deficient. On what grounds can we claim the mantle of human rights when our own government is destroying innocent lives? What’s more, Al Hajj represented the media, which lies at the core of democratic values. I am inclined to believe him when he says it was a deliberate attempt to silence free media.

Of course there is a bigger picture than just this one man, whose life was torn apart by American fear and anger following 9/11. Maybe I take my own role as a father too seriously, that I personalize the scene of al-Hajj and his son. But in the end this is, to me at least, the big picture. It is the destruction of families, the loss or separation from loved ones, that is fueling much of the anger running through both America and the Middle East. – Peter Schurmann