Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Im(m|p)ugnity

A new "documentary is due late in April, "Standard Operating Procedure". It is another look, perhaps dramatized, of Abu Grhaib. It looks as if it rehashes some of the interviews with the PFCs who were there.

Nevermind the new, however, let's talk about Ghosts. Spc. Sabrina Harman, although convicted for her role, was obtained the photographic evidence that culminated in trials and "justice." The question remains, however, is where are all the other photos? As disturbing as the entire matter may be, the really horrible aspect is that most of the military members present might actually have had or seen photos/videos of torture. And then... poof, the pictures get deleted and lost.

Recent evidence of the CIA destruction of torture videos in Gitmo, with evidence that the military willfully destroyed evidence that would incriminate soldiers, suggests that the name of the new movie, "Standard Operating Procedure" may not be too far off the mark. When can we nail people for this aspect alone? 'Sure, the evidence is gone, but we know there was evidence, so we've got you on destruction of evidence.' This is the grave crime, is it not? That someone did wrong, we can accept and get over with some simple punishments, but that they did wrong, knew they did wrong, and then refused to accept the wrong, and tried to avoid punishment - it seems more damning , especially when the image of the U.S. is so marred in the process. If we are so lawful a country, and yet we accept that some people can escape punitive justice by simply denying the crime, doesn't that impugn all of us?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I've got an answer to your question of where the pictures went. Check my blog, I just found the article last night. Apparently Zimbardo has the pictures. Well, he has some, but from what the article implies, the various legal teams have the pictures. Also in March 2006 Salon published 279 photos and 19 videos from Abu Ghraib (you can find that link through the article on my blog too). I have no idea if the legal teams have all the pictures that were ever took, but it seems as though they have some of the more graphic ones that weren't published for public consumption. Not sure either though if those pictures are enough to make a link to command responsibility or if they'll just incriminate the soldiers smiling above the body of the prisoner. But at least not all the pictures have been destroyed!