S.O.P. is a military abbreviation that after even a single tour of duty becomes locked in your brain. It means “standard operating procedure”….basically the way things are done normally. Most units I served with had a big binder somewhere with these three letters on the back—so nobody had a excuse to say that they didn’t know what the SOP was for that unit/job.

There is, at Netflix, a movie/documentary of that name: Standard Operating Procedure. It is about the Abu Ghraib scandal. It is the most demoralizing film I have ever watched. The low level troops who ended up in jail and with less-than-honorable discharges are all there being interviewed, with exception of the highest ranking NCO who is still in jail. A civilian CACI interrogator is on film as well, and the CID investigator who had to go over all the data.

I think it is a source of enduring national shame that nobody above the rank of Staff Sergeant was jailed. Civilians from the CIA to the FBI participated in interrogations that on at least one occasion resulted in DEATH for the prisoner. They got away clean. I think this film is possibly meant to garner sympathy for the low ranking Army schmucks who took the jail sentences and military justice for the “team”. It didn’t really work that way for me. I find their actions utterly culpable and disgraceful. The fact that example DID come from far, far above in the chain of command is a disgrace, but not a reasonable excuse.

What demoralized me most, personally, was the interviews with the women who participated. Lindsey England, in particular, made me spitting mad. She blames it all on her lover, the father of her child. She makes the statement that every woman in prison is there because of a man. No, sorry, Ms. England, you do not get a pass for being a patsy to a guy you were screwing. And for you to justify your actions and dare use the phrase “battle buddies” about the men outside the wire….well, now that is profanity a normal censor program can’t catch. All of you who have read the blog frequently enough to see my existentialist rants on taking responsibility can guess why that drives me to distraction. She offended me even as an old style feminist, with her claims that a woman in the “man’s world” of the Army had to be tough. She was anything but truly tough. And the phrasing of the excuses made me want to batter myself unconscious:

“Well, we didn’t cut their heads off; we didn’t KILL them.”

That makes it all ok, right? Staying one step behind absolute barbarity justifies petty barbarism? Making a man think you will kill him…that is just a bit of alright, then?

“The MI guys were doing worse, the OGA (other government agencies) guys brought in unlogged prisoners and did worse.”

This is a logical fallacy—the whole “Et tu” statement whereby if someone else does it, it is ok for everyone else. But it is obvious these young soldiers, apparently moral morons all, never took logic.

” I didn’t want to be there, but you know, I had to go along so I could go on taking pictures.”

If this was true, Sabrina, why didn’t you SEND those pictures to someone who could act upon them? If you are going to claim innocence by reason of documenting abuses….why didn’t you go public?

“I’m a nice guy, I get along with everyone, I am friends with everyone.”

Peer pressure? Really? You call yourself an adult and you went smilingly along with crap that had nothing to do with interrogations OR vaguely permissible ’softening up’ stuff just so the other guys would LIKE you?

Many of the pictures resulted from activities that seemed to be mostly for the entertainment of the bored and stressed troops. The smiles were too natural on the ordinary American faces; not the least sign of strain. All the statements about the banality of evil certainly spring to mind. I am unconvinced by statements of “Well, I always smile in photos.” I almost never smile in photographs…and certainly could not have mustered a grin in any of these photographs. I’d like to have sympathy for these young idiots; but I can’t find any.

They need to own what they did and find the reasons in themselves for such behaviors. I’ve been in the Army; I REMEMBER the classes on illegal orders and treatment of prisoners. Unless each and every one of these young fools really IS a clinical idiot with an IQ of less than 50, there simply is no justification that convinces me. I don’t EVER again want to hear an American talk about “those fucking Nazis” when young Americans have proven themselves capable of the acts shown in this film, ok? Because this kind of behavior IS how it begins…the slide into “feeling bad about those guys” but not DOING anything about it.

Oh, how far we have fallen. If this is how “Army Strong” is representing our nation, then even our enemies deserve better. None of these actions would be deemed normal or “standard” if they were applied to OUR men and women as prisoners of war. We are all shamed, military, former military and civilians alike. If we have come to where such behaviors are excused, we are all shamed.

I am not an idiot; I know what engenders such behaviors and I know in the heat of the moment horrible things happen. I COULD find more sympathy for that kind of act. Most of what this film portrays did not happen in any momentary heat. Too much was calculated cruelty done for entertainment and stress release. And even the professional interrogator said it did NOT get information of useful purpose; and was counter-productive.

There is not enough soap in the world to make me feel clean again.

And furthermore, at the risk of making this post just too fucking long altogether? If former Halliburton employees show more distress and guilt than American soldiers….that is a major clue that something is amiss! (Thanks to truthtrekker for this) Really, if you haven’t seen this video, you need to see it. Neither this nor S.O.P. is an easy watch. But hey….you DO have a Need to Know!