Part of my work involves reading the news from the major news outlets every day including Reuters. Last Friday I read a shocking and horrific story on the Reuters website and put up a quick reel about it on my Instagram page. I had to calm down enough to put some effort into a more polished reel, which is much longer (about a minute and a half) and includes quotations and graphics from the article. Here is a public view link if you want to see the full reel without visiting my Instagram page.

I was outraged at this atrocity and still am! No one should have to work about a government entity conspiring to harm them. But, for me, this story is especially personal for several reasons. One of these is as part of a publishing consulting job I worked for several years with a team of research and publishing professionals in the Philippines.

They were dedicated, totally committed to our project, and incredibly hard-working. Due to the time difference between the east coast of the United States and there, they would have to work into the evening or night to attend our virtual conferences. They were never late or missed a meeting or a deadline. Their favorite phrase seemed to be, always, “No problem.” I am heartbroken at the thought any of these people or anyone there suffered in any way from this atrocity. 

But even if the country was full of demons, and it most assuredly is not, what the United States military did under Trump is not acceptable. Full stop. I call on President Biden to investigate this fully and to use the full power and weight of our laws to punish those who carried out this crime against humanity.