An Animalistic Domain

Sargeant Joseph Darby wanted photographs of the sites and experiences of his tour of duty in Iraq. Specialist Charles Graner gave him his camera to obtain some photos. What Darby discovered on Graner’s camera shocked him enough to report his findings. The media obtained the photos and Darby’s name was mentioned by none other than Rumsfeld on the airwaves. Eventually, the soldiers participating in acts appearing in the photos would unknowingly see themselves on TV as part of a news story.

Throughout the world, people were horrified and understandably, hatred toward the United States increased in the middle east. The pictures told a story and it was a story of sadistic US soldiers forcing people in positions and actions that were clearly inhumane. Having said that, one wonders where they conjured up the ideas of such abuse. The practice of placing the detainee on a box with a hood over his head was born in Brazil. Apparently, it was a common practice among interrogators around the world. It does appear that someone would have had to tell the MP’s about this method of torture.

One could say that it most assuredly became an animalistic domain where soldiers obeyed orders that were anything but credible, reasonable, and sane. Solzhenitsyn tells the story of men in the Gulag who were snitching on each other in order to obtain an extra piece of bread. He conveys that it could have been him but it wasn’t. But he asserts clearly that he recognizes that same type of unbridled element of evil existed deep within himself. Darby stayed within humanitarian bounds of decency. Would Graner have done the same if he was not asked to treat the prisoners a certain way? Or was he prone to act out in a manner unbecoming of a soldier?