|
Standard Operating Procedure |
|
|
|
|
Tuesday, 08 July 2008 |
 Documentary; Directed by Errol Morris
When does a standard operating procedure become a criminal act? So asks Morris’ hard-hitting documentary, which uses the incendiary events at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison to illustrate the US administration’s policy of extraordinary humiliation and abuse in the processing of POWs.
When does standard operating procedure become a criminal act? When low-ranking perpetrators embarrass their Commander in Chief into an apology.
A good picture writes its own novel, and those taken inside Abu Ghraib told a lengthy and particularly sordid story. The most infamous, that of a cloaked prisoner holding electrical wires, was found to be standard operating procedure. Likewise pictures of naked men chained to a wall with women’s underwear on their faces.
Through a series of candid interviews, written testimony and startling images, Morris examines the far-reaching implications of the soldiers’ behaviour. Was it just simply the actions of a few ‘bad apples’, or had the rot spread from above? Perhaps the most shocking testimony is that of whistle-blower Sabrina Harman who, in letters to her girlfriend, wrote: “I take the pictures (and smile) to prove my story.” For revealing the truth she was given a six-month jail sentence. It seems no one likes to be embarrassed by the staff.
 |
Show/Hide comments
Show/Hide comment form
