Why were the Iraqi prisoners abused?
The latest hot topic in the international media is the scandal relating to the abuse of Iraqi prisoners in the Abu Ghraib prison by the US soldiers. For the past one week I resisted sharing my gut feel on the issue because I did not want to start a debate on whether what happened was justified...off course it was not, as all of you would agree. Neither did I want to just discuss the details or facts of the abuse just for the sake of discussion. The print and broadcast media is already flooded with descriptions and gory pictures of the prisoners of war being abused and tortured. Thus, there seems no point in talking about that.
However, yesterday, i happened to watch a part of the US senate hearing on the Iraqi prisoners abuse on television. The reason for such acts of abuse by the US soldiers was primarily attributed to four major factors, which were failure of leadership, lack of discipline, lack of training, and lack of supervision. These reasons prompted me to share my thoughts with you and elicit your gut feelings on the issue.
There are fifty techniques of interrogation on records as used by the army officials. However, the degree of permitted use of these techniques is not very clear. To what extent can the soldiers are permitted to use sensory deprivation, isolation for more than thirty days, sleep management, and dogs is controversial. The question is whether what happened was just a situational approach of some sadistic individuals or these atrocities were done with the prior knowledge and permission of the command level. The reasons cited are indeed debatable because the US army has a pretty proud record otherwise. Then why did they recede to such level in this case?
Some countries are just ignoring the issue saying that it is an internal US matter. However, it is a human rights matter and if the countries, which themselves act as the moral police of the world turn tormentors then the issue is a matter of serious concern.
Another aspect to the whole scandal is that this matter would probably have grave consequences on the forthcoming US presidential elections. But that is beyond the point of discussion here. Whether the prisoners get justice for the emotional and physical torture that they have undergone is really an issue of concern.
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