Promoting aggression and violence at Abu Ghraib: The U.S. military's transformation of ordinary people into torturers

The torture of detainees at Abu Ghraib has been characterized as an isolated incident and blamed on a few “bad apples.” However, as similar reports of war crimes throughout Iraq continue to surface, it seems increasingly apparent that in the anxious post-9/11 context, the low-level agents who carried out such violence were designed to function in this way. This paper suggests that the U.S. military transformed ordinary soldiers into the cruel and ruthless guards at Abu Ghraib through the use of basic recruitment and training strategies, general authorizations for increased aggression and violence after 9/11, specific authorizations for more aggressive interrogations, a range of pressures and protections, and the dehumanization of prisoners. While the legitimate needs of an effective Army must be preserved, this paper offers several specific ways we might reform the U.S. military and prevent such abuses in the future.