Know When You'll Walk Out

The soldiers made many mistakes while they were stationed at Abu Ghraib, but one of the worst occurred before they took a step into the prison or joined the army. They committed themselves to a stressful system without having a set of values etched into their characters. Instead, they relied on the military and their superiors to guide their decisions and therefore their morals. In traumatic situations where your life is in danger daily, imprisonment is a result of disobedience, and you have the responsibility of authority it is vital to have a strong sense of self. The soldiers that were interviewed looked back on their experiences with a distant regret but as they performed “standard operating procedures” they knew their actions were wrong. The rationalization for the torture was that soldiers were being killed and that the information the prisoners had would help end it. But how far will someone allow another to guide their moves before they stop? The soldiers didn’t have a definite answer.

Persepolis, Meaning of Title

While reading Persepolis I continued to wonder why the title was Persepolis. The book has talked about a child growing up during the Islamic Revolution. After looking up what Persepolis was, I realized that it was a city located in what is known now as Iran, but was known as Prussia until the 1900s. Persepolis was the capital during the Prussian Empire. I then carefully re-read the introduction to Persepolis and dwelled on why Satrapi named her book Persepolis rather than something that reflected her life or the Islamic Revolution. Maybe Satrapi wanted to reflect on Iran's past, before major changes and the Revolution. Perhaps she wanted to honor her land by what is known of it's time of wealth and glory, during the Prussian Empire. Before it changed and been accused of evil doings. "I believe that an entire nation should not be judged by the wrongdoings of a few extremist" (Satrapi).

http://www.livius.org/pen-pg/persepolis/persepolis.html

Marxism

Marx was a philosopher who described the true nature of capitalism, which he recognised as a class based society. The ruling class, the bourgeoisie, exploit the labor power of the working class, the proletariat, in order to make profit. Without workers there is no profit...just raw materials waiting to be shaped and modelled into saleable commodities. Marx created what is known as the socialist theory that the government should control the economy.

http://www.nolanchart.com/article4246-socialism-and-capitalism.html

Submissive Tendencies

There are many affects war has on a soldier's mental state. One in particular I found static amongst all the war pieces we have read is how submissive these soldiers become. In the Abu Ghraib presentation, multiple soldiers spoke of how easily they obeyed the orders of superior rankings. Whether the soldiers were asking the inferior rankings to take pictures of the tortured peoples or be included in the photographs taken, the soldiers never refused. Similarly, in "All Quiet..." Paul obeyed all orders he was given. At many times throughout the novel, Paul even mentioned not fully understanding what it was he was fighting for, but simply that he was obeying the orders of his superiors. I think it's important to examine how little soldiers begin to think for themselves when put in the atmosphere of war. The power of war to strip soldiers of their free will and individuality is evident in all the war pieces we have read.

All Quiet vs. Abu Ghraib

When watching the Abu Ghraib video, I constantly found myself thinking about the events in "All Quiet On The Western Front". In particular, it was easy to make connections between the affects of war in Abu Ghraib to those included in "All Quiet..". For instance, multiple testimonies from the Abu Ghraib presentations spoke of dead people being taken away in body bags. Rather than presenting this tragic image in an emotionally attached manner, the soldiers spoke about these events in a monotone, matter-of-fact manner. Similarly, in "All Quiet.." Paul spoke about the death of his comrades and of other soldiers in the same manner. Often, he even mentioned how war affected his view of death and made him somewhat numb to the emotional damage death carries. The same can be said for the soldiers involved in the Abu Ghraib presentation. Having been surrounded by violence and death for so long, the soldiers became immune the emotional and mental baggage death possesses. For the soldiers in Abu Ghraib and in "All Quiet On The Western Front" death is no longer a threatening occurrence- rather, death is simply part of their everyday routine.

Photographs

One of the most eye-opening aspects of the Abu Ghraib presentation is the power of a photo. Although photographs are normally taken without thought, this presentation emphasizes the importance of thinking before doing (taking pictures). For example, by smiling in some of the photographs, the young woman appears to be participating in the incrimination, violent behavior with the other soldiers. Where in fact, she is simply a bystander that they forced to be involved in the photograph taking. But by only looking at the photo itself, from a completely disconnected point of view, this woman seems to be heartless and violent just as the actual abusers are. Moreover, realizing what image one is presenting when including themselves in a photograph is an important thing to think about. In addition, how are they portraying themselves in the photograph, physically (i.e. body language, hand gestures, facial expressions, etc.). Photographs capture a single moment, but don't quite explain the whole situation.

Lingering Effects

Abu Ghraib is not the only terrorist prison run by Americans. Inmates held at Guantanamo Bay experienced many of the same experiences as the prisoners at Abu Ghraib. Some of the interrogation techniques used at both prisons include sexual humiliation, denial of senses, the sense of sight being the most common, and waterboarding. Inmates at Guatanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib were forced to listen to excessively loud music to induce sleep deprivation. Both of these prisons have come under great scrutiny in the last several years because of these interrogation techniques.

Many people criticize the CIA and military services for using irrelevant techniques on terrorist suspects or for interrogating suspects with not justifiable suspicion. Regardless of the motivation behind these crude interrogation techniques, they have serious impacts on the victims. The article “The Lingering Effects of Torture” by ABC news highlights some of these after-effects. One argument that is made in the article is about the combination of torture methods and how it can increase the long-term effects, such as post-traumatic stress disorder. A combination of methods might include being slapped, with one’s hands tied behind the back, while wearing a hood that prevented the victim from being able to see. While one of these three may not have significant effects, the combination of all three can drastically increase the likelihood of PTSD. This is clearly evident at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib.

We have seen from the video “Standard Operating Procedure” that many of the terrorist suspects had their hands tied behind their backs with sacks over their heads and were subject to various torture methods including sexual humiliation and sleep deprivation. None of the techniques used at these prisons appear to be conducive to the ultimate goal of ending the war on terrorism. Although it may be difficult to identify with the “enemy”, most people would agree that the techniques used by military personnel and the CIA at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib were inhumane and quite unnecessary.

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=7986990&page=2#.TsVFwBzKjV0