As we previously reported, many famous rock musicians and a songwriter for Sesame Street were outraged late last year when news broke that their music had been used to torture inmates at Guantanamo Bay. Whereas Drowning Pool’s Steve Benton said it was “an honor to think that perhaps [their] song could be used to quell another 9/11 attack or something like that,” Trent Reznor, Rage Against The Machine, and many more were understandably furious.
Now Reznor and Rage’s Tom Morello have joined the National Campaign to Close Guantanamo, along with R.E.M., Pearl Jam, the Roots, Rosanne Cash, Rise Against, Billy Bragg, and Jackson Browne, Huffington Post reports.
“Just as we wouldn’t be caught dead allowing Dick Cheney to use our music for his campaigns,” a statement from the Roots said, “you can be damn sure, we wouldn’t allow him to use it to torture other human beings. Congress needs to shut Guantanamo down.” Morello said the idea of his music being used for torture “sickens” him, while R.E.M. called it “horrific” and “anti-American.”
The NCCG are not only pushing for Gitmo to be shut down; they are also demanding that, pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, documents relating to the use of musical torture be declassified.