War on Terror Occurred at Abu Ghraib Prison in Iraq - Essay Example

One of the most negative instances of the "War on Terror" occurred at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, as the reader finds out in John Barry, Mark Hosenball, and Babak Dehghanpisheh's "Abu Ghraib and Beyond;" many detainees, suspected terrorists, and Taliban fighters were tortured by U.S. soldiers in an effort to extract information. The instances of torture were photographed and eventually made their way to the press and widespread viewing around the world. In the ensuing session of finger-pointing as to who was responsible, the soldiers who committed the acts claimed to have been told to do so by their superiors; their commanders denied having instructed them to humiliate the prisoners and torture them.

The end result was that the soldiers were punished, Donald Rumsfeld's credibility was decimated, and the Islamic world became enraged at the American treatment of the prisoners. The names of the worst "interrogators" are given in the article, for they often stripped and tortured the inmates, rather than simply interrogating them. It is commendable that the article is not written in a way that condemns Lynndie England (one of the stars of the illicit torture photographs), but it points the blame higher to military officials, being overt in doing so.

Given the timing of the article (soon after the torture incidents, in the spring of 2004), the authors of the article show quite a bit of restraint in reporting the events at Abu Ghraib. Unlike most of today's reporting, the article is written in a matter-of-fact manner, without a lot of the leftist rhetoric found in today's reporting of the war (or anything having to do with George W. Bush). Additionally, it should be noted that in 2004, it was considered un-American to take the U.S. military to task for their behavior in the Middle East.

This article shows a great deal of bravery by the authors, for the response to the piece could have been quite negative.