According to victims, one of the newest groups to emerge is called the Rastas, a mysterious gang of dreadlocked fugitives who live deep in the forest, wear shiny tracksuits and Los Angeles Lakers jerseys and are notorious for burning babies, kidnapping women and literally chopping up anybody who gets in their way.

United Nations officials said the so-called Rastas were once part of the Hutu militias who fled Rwanda after committing genocide there in 1994, but now it seems they have split off on their own and specialize in freelance cruelty.

Honorata Barinjibanwa, an 18-year-old woman with high cheekbones and downcast eyes, said she was kidnapped from a village that the Rastas raided in April and kept as a sex slave until August. Most of that time she was tied to a tree, and she still has rope marks ringing her delicate neck. The men would untie her for a few hours each day to gang-rape her, she said.

[ They Do It To Destroy Women ]

Here’s what needs to be said; I leave it up to the speech writers to say it more eloquently:

Dear world, we of the United States of America would like to apologize for you for the last eight years. The man that just left office was a travesty. Despite the fact that we elected him, we do not support his actions on a number of fronts. Even most who at one point supported him are now sorry they did so, and have learned from their mistakes. I am here to say is that things, as of today, will be changing. I intend to restore the good name of this country in this world — to restore the respect that has been damaged during recent years. I intend to do this not by simply making claims or promises, but by illustrating through action that we are in fact sincere in our contrition. So, as of today, we are ending the mistake known as the Guantanamo Bay detention center. We are also investigating and discontinuing all overseas secret interrogation and prison operations. In addition, we are making plans to withdrawl our troops from Iraq as well as a number of other remote locations. It is important that this troop redeployment not be interpreted as weakness by either our friends or our enemies. Our failure to achieve our goal in Iraq was not due to the failure of the United States Military, but rather due to the lack of a solid, moral reason for being there in the first place. America is peerless when justly fighting to defend itself or its allies, as seen in WWII, but even a military as great as ours cannot win when we are not fighting for the right reasons. We shall not make that mistake again. Our new vision, and our new promise to you, is that we will return to a message of inclusiveness and friendship throughout the world. We intend to return to the paradigm of leading by example, and by competing through innovation and economic development rather than war. We know it will take time to heal the damage that has been done, and we accept that. But rest assured that we realize our country has gone astray, and that we are taking immediate action to regain your trust and respect. Your partner and friend, - The United States of America