Torture In Iraq

Torture in Iraq

Four years ago, post-9/11, I remember watching a story on the news about an elderly Sikh man who was the victim of a race crime. A photo of him in his hospital bed was flashed beside a picture of him taken before he was beaten. I was taken aback by what I saw. In both pictures, he wore a deep blue turban, and had a long salt-and-pepper mustache and beard against olive skin. However, in the picture of him in his hospital bed, there was something different in his eyes. He looked broken emotionally. How does one go about picking up where they left off after such a traumatic event? In the Middle East, Iraqis are facing this question every day. Many Iraqis were victims of torture in an American-run prison, Abu Ghraib, leaving them emotionally and/or physically scarred. The American soldiers have committed war crimes, although I have to wonder exactly what their psychological state was, and how they could justify their actions. Of course, they were defended by many Americans, but many domestic and international voices spoke out for the Iraqis' rights. Unfortunately, the entire incident has reflected badly upon Americans. The facts must be faced: the torture that took place in Iraq will have long-lasting social and psychological effects on soldiers, the prisoners, and America's reputation. In this paper, I will first discuss the state of America and the circumstances surrounding America's occupation of Iraq. Second, I will talk about the stress placed on the American soldiers. Lastly, I will explain specific conditions Iraqi citizens were facing, from the American government, and from American soldiers in Iraq.

As recently as 2001, America was considered a real superpower of the world. America has more weapons than any other country, the largest economy, and the widest media and entertainment coverage (Strasser 3). However, this type of power is fleeting. The United States military is stretched to its breaking point because of its occupation in a weak country, Iraq. There is a growing national debt that reaches unimaginably high numbers, and the American government has lost credibility in its attempt to rid the world of tyrants with weapons of mass destruction. After claiming that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, the world expected America to find and root them out. Unfortunately, these were promises based on false intelligence, and the American reputation was compromised.

The political relationship between Iraq and America has seen strain in the past. In the early 1990's, the Gulf War took place, America's first step in interfering with Iraqi business. This was not a negative war, because America actually served its purpose there. Iraq had invaded Kuwait, and coalition forces responded, driving Iraq out of Kuwait.

From a certain point of view, the American government has reasons for invading Iraq. There was pressure on the president coming from different places. Immediately after 9/11 occurred, Americans were clamoring for action. As President George W. Bush's administration decided who was responsible for the tragedy, they promised to "punish the wrongdoers", and were forced to act on their word (Ripley 46). A war began in Afghanistan. After this, the occupation in Iraq was a completely deliberate, unprovoked strike against the Iraqi government (Feldman 2). The Bush administration was following through on their pledge to end terrorism in the world. For a short time, after claiming that there were weapons of mass destruction being held by Saddam Hussein, the Bush administration was no longer questioned regarding their reasons for going to Iraq. However, in time, the political state of Iraq became an important factor in the war on terrorism. The media began to emphasize the fact that Iraq was not a proper democracy, and Iraqi citizens were oppressed. The Bush administration convinced America that our goal was to "establish democracy around the world" (FOX News). It became a noble cause.

The stress on the soldiers began once Americans realized that Saddam Hussein did not actually possess weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and our government was mistaken. The war became about oil, and the people no longer supported it. The war on terrorism and Iraq became reminiscent of the Vietnam War, in the sense that Americans did not support the war, and many U.S. soldiers were dying. American soldiers were angered by the fact that the Bush administration was wrong about the weapons of mass destruction, and American soldiers were upset by the lack of support from home. This apparent apathy from home made the soldiers feel as though they were in Iraq for no particular reason (Benvenisti 34). This would naturally cause some level of bitterness within the soldiers. It would be easy for them to lash out at the Iraqis, who have become one of the main reasons that the soldiers are not at home with their families (Feldman 12). Internationally, there was very little support. Hundreds and thousands of people gathered to protest the war on Iraq all over the world (Martin). The soldiers constantly were hearing American peace activists bash the war without mercy. U.S. soldiers had to accept the fact that America was almost entirely alone in this cause, because there were few countries that were willing to stand behind America in the war against Iraq.

Mark Danner proposes that the Iraqi insurgents had a new goal (8). Danner believes that the insurgents decided that they would defeat the Americans politically, if not militarily. The insurgents, according to Danner, intentionally provoked American soldiers so that American soldiers would treat them particularly badly. Once Iraqi insurgents had proof that they were treated badly, they would be able to break open a scandal and make America look bad politically. This seems slightly far-fetched, in the sense that it would take a lot of thought to predict how soldiers would react, and how to provoke them. However, outnumbered, overworked American troops were under constant fear and stress, and it was expected that they would mistreat Iraqis (Hersh 14). As the scandal broke open, Iraqi insurgents succeeded in hurting America politically, whether they intended to or not.

Iraqis were facing unknown forces of the American government through the American soldiers. Even as the scandal was brought out into the open, there were still many things that were hidden from the public eye. Behind closed doors, the American government had decided that Iraqi insurgents had to be rooted out no matter what. They were killing American soldiers, and it was important that they were caught, even if it meant one or two innocent civilians getting sucked up into the system (Benvenisti 4). However, according