We Want Media

Last Wednesday, the Sydney Morning Herald published 15 previously unreleased photos of incidents at Abu Ghraib prison. The article was in advance of a television program that aired sixty of the new photos later that night. The photos depict violence and torture on a level the first set of photographs never approached.

They also, according to the New York Times, had been in the hands of the American press for some time.

The photos came from a DVD report by the Army’s own Criminal Investigation Command, which found the following:

A review of all the computer media submitted to this office revealed a total of 1,325 images of suspected detainee abuse, 93 video files of suspected detainee abuse, 660 images of adult pornography, 546 images of suspected dead Iraqi detainees, 29 images of soldiers in simulated sexual acts, 20 images of a soldier with a Swastika drawn between his eyes, 37 images of Military Working dogs being used in abuse of detainees and 125 images of questionable acts.

So obviously the US government’s response has been to cast the photos as old news, already dealt with in the original hearings, and that publication would serve no means other than to provoke violence against other members of the military. Indeed, the government has been fighting the release of these photos en masse since 2004.

But as I see it, the best thing we can do for our military, and indeed our country, is to release the photos throughout the mainstream media, to get them in the face of every American citizen. Why? To prevent the next Abu Ghraib.

The simple fact is that this is the United States military, sent out by order of the President and Congress, and acting under the flag of the United States of America. What they do reflects on all of us because it is done in our name. We sit here and play "support the troops" on repeat for years, and look what we're supporting. Is that vilifying the entire military for the actions of a few? No. It's understanding that any action by any soldier is an action of our military and an action we must be accountable for.

Discussing this issue a few days ago, a friend of mine asked "When a solider is killed under the mantle of 'Abu Ghraib' will it be worth it?" But the question posed to justify keeping the photos under wraps actually speaks exactly to my point: we must create an environment where every soldier understands that his actions are larger than the then and there. Don't try to put violence against soldiers on a paper for publishing the pictures; that's on the soldiers for their actions.

Has the specific case been handled? Yes. But this is larger than the specific incidents. It's about the culture of the military and the above-the-law mentality that has been displayed by soldiers for centuries. In this day and age, you are not above conducting yourself in accordance with the law. And if you want our support, you damn well better not think you're above conducting yourself in a matter befitting this country.

The media coverage of the atrocities of Vietnam sparked an outrage back home of those whose eyes were opened to the acts being committed in their names. This is no different. It's obvious why the government wants to suppress the photos: because it's a lot harder to say "support the troops" when they're committing acts in your name that you do not support. That's not "acts" as in simply being deployed. It's not about whether they should be somewhere, or when they should return. It's about what they do while wearing the uniform of this nation.

Maybe I’m naïve in thinking outrage by citizens can bring about accountability in the military, can stop a mentality already engrained. But I know that the next generation of soldiers is still over here. And maybe, just maybe, seeing the widespread indignation that these photos invariably bring out, we can engrain our own message in their memories: we will not accept another Abu Ghraib.