Photographing and videotaping groups of male detainees in humiliating acts.Īrranging naked male detainees in a pile and then jumping on them. Videotaping and photographing naked male and female detainees.įorcibly arranging detainees in various explicit positions for photographing.įorcing detainees to remove their clothing and keeping them naked for several days at a time.įorcing naked male detainees to wear women’s underwear. Punching, slapping and kicking detainees jumping on their naked feet. CNN summarized the types of abuse as follows: The photos of the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib shocked the world. The news program “60 Minutes” soon obtained the graphic photos of detainees being tortured by their American guards and broadcast a story on the matter. He reported this to his superiors, who began an investigation (as is standard operating procedure for such reports). Soon after, a US soldier discovered a CD-ROM disc in the prison with photos of prisoner abuse. It began with the death of an Iraqi detainee being interrogated at the prison. The evidence of the torture and humiliation of Iraqis swelled the ranks of militant groups and fueled the insurgency in the country. Just in case anyone remained unsure about Iraq’s new dictators, the Abu Ghraib scandal broke in April of 2004. Coalition forces likewise installed themselves in Saddam’s palaces (including the “Green Zone” in Baghdad), turning them into their new administrative headquarters for the occupation.įor many Iraqis, the message seemed clear: The Americans were the new Saddam, except this time Sunnis would take the place of Shiites and Kurds as Iraq’s oppressed groups. Instead of assuaging already suspicious Iraqis and reassuring them that post-Saddam Iraq would be different, the Americans simply took over Abu Ghraib and began using it much as Saddam had. Long before 2003, “getting sent to Abu Ghraib” stood out as one of the worst fates someone could face in Iraq. Abu Ghraib had been infamous during Saddam’s reign, akin to Iran’s Evin prison in Tehran. One event in particular came to symbolize everything the Americans did wrong in their occupation of Iraq: the scandal surrounding American treatment of Iraqi prisoners in the infamous Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad.įirst came the very fact that the Americans chose the Abu Ghraib prison to house close to 4,000 prisoners (mostly Sunni Arabs suspected of participating in the post-2003 insurgency against the coalition occupation regime). The successful coalition military campaign quickly degenerated, however, into a disastrous occupation. For a brief moment it seemed life would get better for the citizens of a country with one of the world’s largest proven oil reserves. The brutal dictatorship that terrorized all Iraqis finally fell in the 2003 installment of the Gulf War.
Although the “Oil for food” UN program was designed to make sure no Iraqis went hungry under the sanctions, Saddam’s regime prevented food and medicine from reaching dissident populations still under his control (particularly Shiites).Īs a result, some 500,000 Iraqi children are estimated to have died preventable deaths during this period.
Iraq between 19 suffered tremendously under international sanctions. As part of its special coverage of the Gulf War, Arab News has done a deep dive into the topic to produce a multimedia feature titled Desert Storm: 30 years on. Some 30 years later, we are still assessing the consequences of the invasion of Kuwait. This ill-fated decision forever changed Iraq and the lives of all Iraqis and the first coalition war against Iraqi began on Jan. 2, 1990, the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein ordered his army to invade and capture Kuwait. Torture at Abu Ghraib came to symbolize everything the US did wrong after the overthrow of Saddam in 2003 Some 30 years after the launch of Desert Storm, the world is still assessing the manifold consequences of the Gulf War Strong Professor of Middle East Politics at Missouri State University Suggested reading: 5 Lessons From Prophet Muhammad to Stop Torture and Muhammad Never Tortured Prisoners of War By David Romano is Thomas G.
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