Thoughts on Abu Ghraib

The book I mentioned in my last post is by Thomas E. Ricks, not Hicks. The book is Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq. It is comprehensive, engaging, biting. The book's leit motif is the administration's hubris and shortsightedness in not preparing for the insurgency. Army units, esp. Guard and Reserve, have been sent to Iraq inadequately trained and armed. The Abu Ghraib scandal, while reprehensibile, is understandable once you know the situation the soldiers were in, how overworked and under-prepared they were, how little supervision there was. It's not necessarily bad people that abuse prisoners, the situation they are shapes behavior. One need only to look at Zimbardo's 1970 Stanford Prison Experiment to see how a prison environment can effect both prisoners' and guards' behavior, leading the abuse of detainees.

And I see Lynddie England as a victim as well as a perpetrator. I know something about the gender dynamics of enlisted people in the Army. Females are outnumbered and face prejudice for just being there. They labor under the "whore/lesbian" dichotomy - you are either a slut for doing a "man's job," or you are a dyke. That opens the door to sexual acting out. Moreover, she wanted to please her male comrades, probably wanted their affection, and wanted to belong. What better way than to whole heartedly endorse and adopt their "entertainment?" I don't think she was able to not participate in the abuse of detainees

But the bottom line is this: The effect of prison environments on people's behavior has been known for a long time. COMMANDERS SHOULD HAVE SEEN THIS COMING! But then, the powers that be didn't see any of this coming.

This is the last day of the year, and I am already tired of resolutions and "best of 2006" lists. Let's take the Christmas decorations down now, PLEASE, and get back to work. I am frustrated by the fact that I can't get into my office to work until Tuesday, and the YMCA is closed until Tuesday as well. I am tired of rich, fattening holiday food. But I hope '07 will be better than '06.