1. The Context of the Abu Ghriab Scandal

 

The Abu Ghraib scandal can first begin with the US Army as the first organization in which we should point our attention.  In Iraq during the summer and fall of 2013, the army was under the control of Rumsfeld and General Sanchez for the operation in Iraq. They soldiers, while in Iraq, had a ten month deployment in Iraq borders.  There was not initial plan for the soldiers, so they marched in and overthrew the Hussein reign in the Spring of 2003.  After the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, the people of Iraq were left without a government, financial stability, and a foreign military with a clear plan on out to get their country back on track.  President Bush and his administration attempted several methods of trying to reestablish a stable environment, but with no avail.  As the time marched on, the task became more and more difficult.  With the lack of a plan, the US army fell into confusion on whom and what type of war that they were attempting to fight.



Book cover from the Cold War to Abu Ghraib and Beyond by Michael Otterman

        It was during the summer of 2003, that they were several events that would take place.  On August 7, there was an explosion outside of the Jordanian Embassy by a car bomb.  Then on August 19^th, the United Nations located in Iraq was attacked by a cement truck that was exploded by a bomb and damaging the building.  In hind-sight, we were able to see that the objects of the attacked seemed to be the US soldiers, rather than the prisoners. As a counter measure the US would create a “light foot print” in Iraq, by removing troops from Iraq.  In actuality, Bremer, Chevy and Rumsfeld just diminished the actual number of troops to create a sense that US was removing troops, and force the Iraqi troops to control the public attacks themselves.

 

         The time period from the summer of 2003 and the fall of 2003 saw a rise in the sole control that was issued to the battalion to be able to run their own regionals.  Sanchez decided this would enable the battalions the ability to make quick decisions and give them the ability to adapt to the needs of the areas quicker.  With the lack of intelligence, and concrete evidence, the army found themselves ignorant of the actual military needs and intelligence of the events and needs which will end up with the US intelligence being called the Abu Ghraib intelligence Scandal.

 

           Abu Ghraib was the name of a prison that is located in Iraq.  It would house many civilians that were taken by the allied troops and treated by the punishment and overall treatment known by the US troops. The US army went through this segment of time kidnapping families and holding them hostage in order to send a message to the terrorist to reveal themselves or lose their loved ones. The US used this hostage situation as a tactic to gain more intelligence, and did not hold it in a negative light or see the infringement to the civil rights of the individuals.  As we learn more and more about the harsh treatment of Abu Ghraib, we learn that the treatments of the prisoners were decided to be an attack upon their culture and faith.  By use of punishment such as stripping the prisoners naked, and forcing them to pose in positions that would insult them, or stand naked in a room with many individual of the same / different gender, and even to physical abuse.

           The living conditions continued to worsen as the prison became more and more overcrowded.  Some of the soldiers would document the conditions and punishment through photos.  It is said to have housed ninety-percent of the prisoners, whom were actually innocent.  The soldiers were not trained on how to facilitate or manage a large amount of prisoners. The Geneva Convention clearly states, "Article 3 of the 1949 convention stated that people being detained shall be treated humanely, without 'outrages on personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment.'" These prisoners were subjected to treatment that was considered unlawful. Many soldiers abused their powered and urinated on the soldiers. Many logical and predictable outcome of a series of panicky decisions made by a senior command resulted from poor troop approach. The Abu Ghraib scandal could have been prevented with the right planning and the following of the Geneva Convention.

 

The picture above is a picture from the Washington Post  from April 5, 2013.  This the an actual picture of the prison hallway where many of the prisoners were held.

           Soldiers were given the go-ahead to conduct harsh interrogation by their superiors. Dogs would be used to aid in scare tactics during the interrogations of the prisoners.  Water boarding was another tactic that was used.  Since many of the soldiers conducting the interrogations were not actually properly trained in interrogation tactics nor had someone of reason to implement a voice of reason. 

Army walking with President Bush during a visit