STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE CLIP #10

Is it possible for a photograph to change the world? Photographs taken by soldiers in Abu Ghraib prison changed the war in Iraq and changed America's image of itself. Yet, a central mystery remains. Did the notorious Abu Ghraib photographs constitute evidence of systematic abuse by the American military, or were they documenting the aberrant behavior of a few "bad apples"?

We set out to examine the context of these photographs. Why were they taken? What was happening outside the frame? We talked directly to the soldiers who took the photographs and who were in the photographs. Who are these people? What were they thinking? Over two years of investigation, we amassed a million and a half words of interview transcript, thousands of pages of unredacted reports, and hundreds of photographs. The story of Abu Ghraib is still shrouded in moral ambiguity, but it is clear what happened there.

The Abu Ghraib photographs serve as both an expose and a coverup. An expose, because the photographs offer us a glimpse of the horror of Abu Ghraib; and a coverup because they convinced journalists and readers they had seen everything, that there was no need to look further. In recent news reports, we have learned about the destruction of the Abu Zubaydah interrogation tapes. A coverup. It has been front page news. But the coverup at Abu Ghraib involved thousands of prisoners and hundreds of soldiers. We are still learning about the extent of it.

Many journalists have asked about "the smoking gun" of Abu Ghraib. It is the wrong question. As Philip Gourevitch has commented, Abu Ghraib is the smoking gun. The underlying question that we still have not resolved, four years after the scandal: how could American values become so compromised that Abu Ghraib—and the subsequent coverup—could happen?

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News & Politics

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• errol
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[annieEn]

this video is indescribably horrific. I think people do deserve to know how disgusting and inhumane the american military was. The sad part is, the real culprits are getting away with it. Even the 7 that have been sentenced deserve to get a taste of their own medicine. It's truly sick...there is no justice. But posting this video and letting other people know what happened is the best thing anyone can do.

[LEXLOW]

@antimatterXXXIII You dont have to wait. Bring it bitch. I live in Miami. Lets get together and see where I stick that bayonet. In your cunt,

[rosepearljanis]

"the fear of the truth"

[LEXLOW]

Yeah, they were remote controlled with Camel-Jokeys at the stick. Ignorant bitch!

[LEXLOW]

Its on biatch!

[antimatterXXXIII]

People like you make me wish for another civil war, and to meet you some day on the end of my bayonet. You ignorant Nazi fuckers have destroyed my country in reputation, mind, and soul. YOU are the people Jefferson warned us about.

-drl

[replicon66]

One is not judged by his good deeds but by his bad ones

[replicon66]

You flew your own planes into your own people just to get the oil. That's a FACT!! You're no better than them.

[hunhun23]

the american army is supposed to go by the Geneva Convention which means that we are supposed to treat the prisoners decently no matter where they came from. I watched the movie and was disgusted! I spent 6 years in the Army and I would never do something like that. I don't care if I went to prison for not following orders. If I feel that is it wrong then I will not do it. The bad thing is the orders came from the higher ups and no one above Sgt 1st Class was ever convicted. Only enlisted

[LEXLOW]

Kill'eM ALL and let their whore mothers sort out the remains. Those extremist fuckers kill for fun. They were in there for a reason. If they get treated like the murdering cowards that they are, SO BE IT. They deserve worse. I would have stabbed their hearts by shoving a broom handle up their asses. Each and every one of them... sloooowly. We dint start this shit by flying a plane into innocent people. Thats why the old testament is the shit!, EYE FOR AN EYE you fucking cowards.