The Bush Administration's Use of Torture is Increasing Anti-Americanism Abroad We remember the photographs. While the politicians tried to blame six soldiers for the torture of Iraqis at Abu Ghraib, it is clear that, far from being an isolated event, the use of torture is a widespread occurrence that is not the work of rank-and-file soldiers but is a policy held by the administration. The United States use of torture is doing nothing but fostering animosity towards the United States.
According to Major General Antonio M. Taguba, "Interrogating prisoners and getting intelligence, including by intimidation and torture, was the priority" (Hersh). However, the prisoners held at Abu Ghraib are mostly innocent civilians. Most are picked up during random sweeps by the military or at checkpoints (Hersh).
After these innocent civilians are tortured they are then released, with a grudge against the United States for the undeserved punishment that they endured. According to one U.S. army sergeant, "If he's a good guy, you know, now he's a bad guy because of how we treated him" (Human Rights Watch 5). The soldiers stationed at Forward Operating Base Mercury are referred to as "the Murderous Maniacs" by Fallujah residents because of how they treat Iraqi prisoners. The soldiers were proud of this title and considered it a "badge of honor" (Human Rights Watch 1).
The mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners is not degrading the image of the United States in just Iraq: it is affecting peoples' opinion all over the globe. A poll done by the Arab American Institute (AAI) concluded that "the main reason for rising anti-Americanism was opposition to its foreign policy" (Dawoud). Six Arab nations were polled by the AAI, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, United Arab Emirates, Jordon, and Lebanon, and the overall approval ratings varied between two percent and twenty percent. One of the topmost concerns of those surveyed was "Ameria's treatment of Arabs and Muslims" (Dawoud).
The United States sanctioning the use of torture on Iraqis is fueling the very movement that we are trying to fight. This policy need to be changed before it will be too late to redeem our reputation abroad, before we have more enemies than we do friends.
Sources
Dawoud, Khaled. "Arab Opinions." YaleGlobal Online. 30 July 2004. Yale Center for the Study of Globalization. 4 Nov. 2008.
Hersh, Seymour M. "Torture at Abu Ghraib." The New Yorker 10 May 2004. The New Yorker. 10 May 2004. 15 Oct. 2008.
"Leadership Failure." Human Rights Watch 17 (2005): 1-28.
According to Major General Antonio M. Taguba, "Interrogating prisoners and getting intelligence, including by intimidation and torture, was the priority" (Hersh). However, the prisoners held at Abu Ghraib are mostly innocent civilians. Most are picked up during random sweeps by the military or at checkpoints (Hersh).
After these innocent civilians are tortured they are then released, with a grudge against the United States for the undeserved punishment that they endured. According to one U.S. army sergeant, "If he's a good guy, you know, now he's a bad guy because of how we treated him" (Human Rights Watch 5). The soldiers stationed at Forward Operating Base Mercury are referred to as "the Murderous Maniacs" by Fallujah residents because of how they treat Iraqi prisoners. The soldiers were proud of this title and considered it a "badge of honor" (Human Rights Watch 1).
The mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners is not degrading the image of the United States in just Iraq: it is affecting peoples' opinion all over the globe. A poll done by the Arab American Institute (AAI) concluded that "the main reason for rising anti-Americanism was opposition to its foreign policy" (Dawoud). Six Arab nations were polled by the AAI, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, United Arab Emirates, Jordon, and Lebanon, and the overall approval ratings varied between two percent and twenty percent. One of the topmost concerns of those surveyed was "Ameria's treatment of Arabs and Muslims" (Dawoud).
The United States sanctioning the use of torture on Iraqis is fueling the very movement that we are trying to fight. This policy need to be changed before it will be too late to redeem our reputation abroad, before we have more enemies than we do friends.
Sources
Dawoud, Khaled. "Arab Opinions." YaleGlobal Online. 30 July 2004. Yale Center for the Study of Globalization. 4 Nov. 2008
Hersh, Seymour M. "Torture at Abu Ghraib." The New Yorker 10 May 2004. The New Yorker. 10 May 2004. 15 Oct. 2008
"Leadership Failure." Human Rights Watch 17 (2005): 1-28.
1 comment:
The evidence that people are losing respect for America because of actions such as these is proof that how you handle yourself regardless of who it is in front of, in this case as a country, has a direct affect on how you are viewed in return. What America is allowing in the ways of torture is unnacceptable. In this case the ends do not justify the means. Regardless of what we might save by attaining this information, it is inhumane and unjust. The reason this country was founded was for freedom and on the bounds that everyone is created equal. This directly contradicts those beliefs. Representing our country in this way is atrocious, and doing it in the name of freedom is even worse. It is no better than the acts committed on us in September seven years ago that we have gone to war over in the first place.
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