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Monday, October 20, 2008

Ghosts

I apologize about the tardiness of my reply to the movie, but every time I sat down to write about it I just couldn't find any way to not get too upset. I have to be honest I got back from class that night and all I could think about was my friends that are currently in Iraq and how I hope they are never taken prisoner because I know the end result of that situation would be something horrific. Thoughts like this plagued me for the rest of the week and throughout this weekend. I just couldn't get the pictures of what was done to the Iraqi prisoners out of my head either. Everything just made me sick to my stomach and I wanted to do anything and everything to not think about the movie. Yet, it kept seeping into my thoughts

I am always amazed as to what people can do when put in a situation that they perceive a threat and are also given a lot of power as well. So many of the individuals involved kept saying that wasn't the person I am now, I don't know who that person was. I feel as though they are saying that as an attempt to try to separate themselves from the deeds they had committed and witnessed against the Iraqi detainees. The fact of the matter is that it was them. These people were just surprised and ashamed of what they were capable of. Every person is capable of doing something horrible to another person, I guess it was these soldiers defining moment of what they individually were capable of.

While I can feel bad for them that they took the rap for everything that went on in Iraq at the same time these individuals are just as responsible for their actions as the people who delivered the orders in the first place. There is a point where a member of the military can say to their superior that they will not follow an order because it is morally wrong or against military law. None of these individuals made an effort to not become part of the pattern of torture in Abe Ghraib. Rather, they helped to continue it.

I am not surprised in the least how the higher ranked officers addressed the new MP's coming into the prison. Rather than let the MP's get acclimated to the environment and walk in prepared to do their job the higher officers instilled in every member a sense of fear of the inmates being held. They immediately made an effort to dehumanize the individuals in the prison. It was as if they knew the steps that needed to be taken to get regular "moral" human beings to torture other people. Not every person is immediately equipped to handle torturing another person and feel nothing about it. These officers were able to manipulate the MP's and the situation to "train" the newbies in their patterns of violence. They wanted the newbies to be afraid so they would lash out before they took a rational approach. This sickens me in so many ways.

I am still completely unamazed by the fact only one of the higher ranking officials was punished for the actions that took place. The military has a history of taking care if its own. The enlisted men or the lower ranking officers haven't been involved in the system long enough to be seen as any one of value. They are disposable in times of controversy as was seen when the pictures were released to the public. Much of the public that looked into the incident at Abu Ghriab was astounded that the MPs were the only ones who got punished, but this is not an uncommon occurrence. The administration and the leaders of the military want to keep the people who can get them the most information and the best public response. In this case it was the individuals who issued the torture orders because supposedly they were retrieving information of "world importance". Also what people fail to recognize that if a higher ranked official was fired or held on charges it would be a much larger public embarrassment then just a lowly grunt or MP. The dismissal or punishment of a higher ranked officer would mean the military and in turn the administration was admitting that they were behind the orders of torture. This would cause a huge change in their influence and standing with the public. So, they got rid of the "lowly" as a sacrifice for the whole. It was made to seem these people took these actions on their own rather than following orders. Just a common occurrence in the military nothing new.

This raises the question when is torture okay? I can honestly say I don't know. I know if ever I was put in a situation where I had a choice between saving a life by torturing an individual for information I would. I feel horrible admitting that but its true. If I were pushed to such an extreme I would do it, and I think almost everyone would. Torture is nothing new in war and even in peace times. It has and always will be a method of gaining information. Yet, this doesn't make it okay. Rather, it just reveals how fear and power can cause the worst parts of humanity to be revealed. One would hope that our country would be above and beyond such practices, but as we saw in the movie we are no better than the third world country we are fighting.

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