Start date: November 7, 2012
First written post: November 8, 2012

Perspective on the Iraq War of 2003

Particularly, events before, during, and after the Abu Ghraib scandal.

Abu Ghraib is a city northwest of Baghdad, Iraq. In Abu Ghraib, a prison exists with the same name, which once taken over by the United States military, also became known as the Baghdad Central Confinement Facility. Previously, Saddam Hussein had used it to house prisoners, which reportedly, were abused and tortured. Unfortunately, this was also done by the US military when they took over the site. What possessed our soldiers to participate in such heinous crimes against humanity? How was it possible that leadership was decrepit enough to declare ignorance of the situation or state that backup was not forthcoming of such abuse in a prison housing 5000 detainees? And were changes made to secure the facility, and yet retain interrogation techniques, which could lead to pertinent information toward the capture of terrorists after the scandal broke?

Prior to public knowledge of any facility named Abu Ghraib, and almost immediately upon the start of the Iraq war, insurgency began against the US troops in Iraq. Many muslim factions, especially the Sunni's did not want American troops on middle eastern soil. Obviously, the Baathists would resist the the US, along with Iraqi’s who saw their homes and land changing daily.

Military troops from the US and Great Britain would find erratic local governance and their handpicked choice for a leader did nothing to inspire in uniting the people under this new leader handpicked by Cheney and Rumsfeld. No one in Iraq, however, wanted him as their leader.

Insufficient relief for the citizens of Iraq, terroristic activity, and increased looting started to weigh heavily on the US leaders already involved in a badly organized effort to remake Iraq into the Americana image.