Standard Operating Procedures

I watched Errol Morris' excellent documentary about Abu Ghraib called Standard Operating Procedure.



The American military probably does a lot of fucked up shit that we don't know about. Like the difference between torture and "standard operating procedure" is very, very slim. Like being tied with electrical cords while in a stress position? That is standard operating procedure. One gentleman says that this is only someone being put into discomfort in order to obtain information. Humiliation, "softening up" and other uncomfortable things are considered standard.

My understanding is that torture is exactly that: being put into uncomfortable positions (not like a good-natured jibe at the expense of a friend's relative without knowing that the relative has passed away...not that kind of discomfort) to obtain information is exactly what torture is. I'm not totally against it, but let's call a spade a spade.

The more shocking thing about the documentary is how Morris humanizes the torturers, Lynndie England specifically. As it turns out, there's a lot more to the story than we heard in the news and now that I am privy to certain information, I feel a lot more sympathy for England. Yes, she did some pretty despicable things, but she's paid her fine to society and we should let her live her life.

The real crime here is that the people who approved of torture have not been punished. England and her ilk are scapegoats, to an extent, and I letting them take all the blame is just as despicable. England lives in infamy, raising the son she had with Charles Graner (one of the main instigators of the torture, who cheated on England with another of the torturers), and the people who approved of the attrocities walk free. I don't care whether you're a liberal or a conservative, this period of unaccountability in governmental matters has to end.