The Abu Ghraib Scandal: Who’s Shame is it?

Over the last few weeks we have seen images of the utterly inhumane treatment meted out to Iraqi prisoners at the hands of American soldiers. The photographs are revolting and we are warned that there are many more which depict even more deplorable acts than what we have already seen.

During the last year, after failing to find any of Iraq’s so-called weapons of mass destruction, President Bush repeatedly justified his war on Iraq by reminding people that at least now “Iraq is free of rape rooms and torture chambers.” With the surfacing of the Abu Ghraib photographs, even that claim is appearing to be false.

As if the situation was not already grim enough, we learn of the gruesome beheading by a fundamentalist group of Nicholas Berg, an American businessman in Iraq. The group claims this was to avenge the prisoners’ abuse by the Americans.

As a Pakistani-American, it is especially difficult to watch this war between “good” and “evil.” On the one hand, our government bombs countries and encroaches on the civil rights of people in the name of “national security” (many of the men carried off to Guantanamo Bay after 11 September without any charges were of Pakistani). On the other hand, religious fundamentalists commit atrocities in the name of Islam. Each side calls its adversary “evil.”

How many innocent victims will suffer or lose their lives before it is all over? Nicholas Berg was a civilian working in Iraq. According to the Red Cross report on the treatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib, somewhere between 70-90% of the prisoners there have been arrested by mistake. That means the majority of the people in that prison are innocent victims of circumstances. So what are they still doing in prison?

Last week I read a letter from a mother who felt sorry for the young soldiers who were thrown into a war they didn’t understand and were inadequately trained to handle the situation surrounding them. I would like to ask this mother: exactly how much training does a 21-year old require before he or she realizes that it is not alright to tie a leash around a man’s neck and drag him like a dog, or strip men naked and pile them on top of each other like animals then pose for photographs mocking them? Apparently even worse things were also done to Iraqi prisoners. To realize that the perpetrators are the men and women representing us Americans in Iraq is especially painful.

What can we do now? Now that we have seen the abuse, we must demand that people are held accountable, not just the soldiers who actually committed the abuses but also the “higher ups in command” who allowed it to happen. We must also demand an investigation into the treatment of prisoners at another American run detainee facility, Guantanamo Bay: many of the prisoners there have also been held without due process and have alleged abuse.

As an immigrant to the United States, when criticizing my government, I have heard the arguments: “if you don’t like America then go back to your own country,” and “how can you criticize America when there is so much wrong in your native Pakistan?” To them I say that I am a citizen of the United States, I am an American and I value the freedom this country has afforded me. As such it is my duty to speak up when my government commits unjust acts of aggression.

The great thing about a democratic system is that citizens have the right to vote for a change when their government falls short of expectations. I hope that each and every eligible American will practice that right this November.