A critique of Standard Operating Procedure (SOP)
Standard Operating Procedure is a 2008 film that was directed by the acclaimed journalist Errol Morris. Morris documents the incedent(s) at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq that shocked Americans and Foreigners alike.
This documentary depicts (and interviews) the actions of the soldiers who were involved in cases of perceived torture. In this documentary there are several soldiers who were present during the various torture “sessions.”
To name a few of the soldiers; Megan Graner, Christopher Bradley, Javal Davis and Sarah Denning. One of the soldiers comments that they are going to be receiving some of the Higher-Ups in Saddam Hussein’s regime, Some of these higher-ups are depicted on the deck of playing cards that are used by the soldiers to help tell the difference.
One soldier, Janis Paskinski said “Once were entered Fallujah we smelled the death, we smelled the destruction and rotting flew and we said to ourselves; it’s for real now!”
Paskinski goes on to say, “ In room 1A and 1B Everyone’s naked and wearing women’s panties and I said to myself, something is not right here.”
Even if these soldiers managed to say something, they would be shut down almost instantly by superior officers. Since most “interrogation techniques” were done by Non-governmental Agencies (NGA’s) officers in the regular military have almost no say in what goes on. Lance Corporal Lyndiee England says, “she thought it was weird example set, when there are common thieves being treated as they were higher-up’s.
These men were just taxicab drivers, but he was jailed for some trivial offence and the embarrassment he suffered.
“playing with his dick with a baton and simulated molestation; I don’t care where you are, this is molestation!” Tim Duggan, an intelligence officer said, “Out of all these pictures, no one noticed that these acts were being committed?” Duggan called these soldiers “unprofessional shucks, who tarnish America’s image”
I believe Duggan’s statement because, it takes only a few immoral and unprofessional “soldiers” to ruin the reputation of a whole country in the eyes of the world.
After these images of the detainees were published, soldiers died in the field, because of these horrible images. The insurgents were fueled with such furry and rage over these images of torture.
With the population growing in Abu Ghraib, due to in part of the street sweeps. American Soldiers were trying to purge Iraq of the remnants of the Bathist regime. These wide sweeps brought more and more people into Abu Ghraib; one day there was 200 prisoners and the next day there is close to 1,500 prisoners.
You do not have enough accredited staff to watch over them, so you need low level Soldiers.
In one picture, there was a prisoner they called “Gilligan” who was accused of killing a CID agent. “Gilligan” was photographed in a shower, blindfolded and hooked up to some kind of electrical wires with a mock battery. A soldier said,” this was just for show, none of this was real, it was just a joke”
The world was not laughing at their joke, it needlessly endangered the lives of U.S. servicemen and servicewomen and outraged the world and it also weakened the United States’ credibility in the eyes’ of the world.
Regardless if it was real or not was the point, but these kinds of actions go on at all is the point.
The documentary was gripping and powerful. The best part of this documentary was that it’s a true story; you couldn’t make this stuff up.
This documentary depicts (and interviews) the actions of the soldiers who were involved in cases of perceived torture. In this documentary there are several soldiers who were present during the various torture “sessions.”
To name a few of the soldiers; Megan Graner, Christopher Bradley, Javal Davis and Sarah Denning. One of the soldiers comments that they are going to be receiving some of the Higher-Ups in Saddam Hussein’s regime, Some of these higher-ups are depicted on the deck of playing cards that are used by the soldiers to help tell the difference.
One soldier, Janis Paskinski said “Once were entered Fallujah we smelled the death, we smelled the destruction and rotting flew and we said to ourselves; it’s for real now!”
Paskinski goes on to say, “ In room 1A and 1B Everyone’s naked and wearing women’s panties and I said to myself, something is not right here.”
Even if these soldiers managed to say something, they would be shut down almost instantly by superior officers. Since most “interrogation techniques” were done by Non-governmental Agencies (NGA’s) officers in the regular military have almost no say in what goes on. Lance Corporal Lyndiee England says, “she thought it was weird example set, when there are common thieves being treated as they were higher-up’s.
These men were just taxicab drivers, but he was jailed for some trivial offence and the embarrassment he suffered.
“playing with his dick with a baton and simulated molestation; I don’t care where you are, this is molestation!” Tim Duggan, an intelligence officer said, “Out of all these pictures, no one noticed that these acts were being committed?” Duggan called these soldiers “unprofessional shucks, who tarnish America’s image”
I believe Duggan’s statement because, it takes only a few immoral and unprofessional “soldiers” to ruin the reputation of a whole country in the eyes of the world.
After these images of the detainees were published, soldiers died in the field, because of these horrible images. The insurgents were fueled with such furry and rage over these images of torture.
With the population growing in Abu Ghraib, due to in part of the street sweeps. American Soldiers were trying to purge Iraq of the remnants of the Bathist regime. These wide sweeps brought more and more people into Abu Ghraib; one day there was 200 prisoners and the next day there is close to 1,500 prisoners.
You do not have enough accredited staff to watch over them, so you need low level Soldiers.
In one picture, there was a prisoner they called “Gilligan” who was accused of killing a CID agent. “Gilligan” was photographed in a shower, blindfolded and hooked up to some kind of electrical wires with a mock battery. A soldier said,” this was just for show, none of this was real, it was just a joke”
The world was not laughing at their joke, it needlessly endangered the lives of U.S. servicemen and servicewomen and outraged the world and it also weakened the United States’ credibility in the eyes’ of the world.
Regardless if it was real or not was the point, but these kinds of actions go on at all is the point.
The documentary was gripping and powerful. The best part of this documentary was that it’s a true story; you couldn’t make this stuff up.
posted by BCafaro at 12:43 PM
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