Abu Ghraib and the Normalization of Torture and Hate
Baylee Crumpler
Professor Dr. Maul
Sociology
7 October 2010
Abu Ghraib Prison
In the United States today, people have become less caring for others, commit tremendous amounts of crime, and show many signs of hatred. Abuses take place in peoples’ everyday lives physically, psychologically, and sexually. Crimes such as torture, rape, sodomy, and homicide became popular in Iraq, at Abu Ghraib prison. Surprisingly, these terrible acts were committed by military police personnel of the United States Army along with additional U.S. governmental agencies (Hersh). How could these powerful men, who are looked upon as heroes, have the nerve to abuse these prisoners in such a brutal manner? Unfortunately, the tragedies that occurred at Abu Ghraib prison were only the beginning of such hatred actions.
Men with higher authority had the power to control whoever and whatever happened within the prison, and soldiers understood to never show deviant behavior towards their superiors. The soldiers at Abu Ghraib witnessed their superiors commit cruel punishment towards the prisoners as if it was normal and part of the job. It’s only natural for soldiers to conformity Abusing the prisoners soon became a regular routine that was not necessary and needed to be put to an end.
After CBS’s 60 Minutes II took action in 2004 by allowing the entire world to view images of prisoner abuse that was occurring in the prison.
Revealed in the Taguba Report, an initial criminal investigation by the United States Army Criminal Investigation Command had already been underway, where soldiers of the 320th Military Police Battalion had been charged under the Uniform Code of Military Justice with prisoner abuse. In 2004, articles describing the abuse, including pictures showing military personnel appearing to abuse prisoners, came to public attention, when a 60 Minutes II news report (April 28) and an article by Seymour M. Hersh in The New Yorker magazine (posted online on April 30 and
Professor Dr. Maul
Sociology
7 October 2010
Abu Ghraib Prison
In the United States today, people have become less caring for others, commit tremendous amounts of crime, and show many signs of hatred. Abuses take place in peoples’ everyday lives physically, psychologically, and sexually. Crimes such as torture, rape, sodomy, and homicide became popular in Iraq, at Abu Ghraib prison. Surprisingly, these terrible acts were committed by military police personnel of the United States Army along with additional U.S. governmental agencies (Hersh). How could these powerful men, who are looked upon as heroes, have the nerve to abuse these prisoners in such a brutal manner? Unfortunately, the tragedies that occurred at Abu Ghraib prison were only the beginning of such hatred actions.
Men with higher authority had the power to control whoever and whatever happened within the prison, and soldiers understood to never show deviant behavior towards their superiors. The soldiers at Abu Ghraib witnessed their superiors commit cruel punishment towards the prisoners as if it was normal and part of the job. It’s only natural for soldiers to conformity Abusing the prisoners soon became a regular routine that was not necessary and needed to be put to an end.
After CBS’s 60 Minutes II took action in 2004 by allowing the entire world to view images of prisoner abuse that was occurring in the prison.
Revealed in the Taguba Report, an initial criminal investigation by the United States Army Criminal Investigation Command had already been underway, where soldiers of the 320th Military Police Battalion had been charged under the Uniform Code of Military Justice with prisoner abuse. In 2004, articles describing the abuse, including pictures showing military personnel appearing to abuse prisoners, came to public attention, when a 60 Minutes II news report (April 28) and an article by Seymour M. Hersh in The New Yorker magazine (posted online on April 30 and
Cited: Hersh, Seymour M. “Chain of Command: The Road from 9/11 to Abu Ghraib.” New York, HarperCollins: 2004. Web.