The video confessions of the Abu Ghraib soldiers was very similar to what the Nazi soldiers said. The Nazi soldiers always said that they did the things they did because they were just following orders. It was the same for the Abu Ghraib soldiers. They did it because everyone else, mainly the authority figures, did it or they were ordered to do it, like paying the music really loud to keep the prisoners awake. It was strange how it worked out. The new people followed along but some higher authority figure who was visiting noticed that something was wrong. Why do people do that? The website that I looked at says that this behavior results from the imbalance of power, and people are to willing to give themselves to a job.
However, the girl who wrote the letters knew how horrible eveything looked but she did not speak up. This showed that the soldiers had the urge to follow orders but also not to question them. When things are not questioned, the truth is not seen or found and people will continue to think or do wrong.
This also reminds me of the movie An American Crime that has this crazy mother who tells her children it is ok to abuse this girl they are supposed to be caring for. Then the neighborhood kids come to the house to abuse her too. They all responded in court that they did not know why they did those things or did not get help.
People seem to take authority figures as their dictator over their souls. Conscience is blocked and sympathy is lost. The only thing that matters is keeping their job and reputation with their bosses.
Really Good Website: It lookes at different scenerios of power influencing people's decisions including Abu Ghraib soldiers.
http://www.kon.org/urc/v6/patros.html
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