While watching the PBS frontline special, Taking Off the Gloves, in class I was in absolute shock. I feel like I was so ignorant to the true crimes of war. I have always been against war and known that participants of war on both ends are guilty of war crimes and that these crimes are cruel and brutal, but I had never seen anything as graphic as this special unveiling the crimes of our own American soldiers at Abu Ghraib. I feel as though we like to keep this clean vision in our heads of our American soldiers, that they are heroes out their fighting for OUR freedom and that we are the "good guys" and they are the "bad guys" when really this is not the case. In no way am I trying to disrespect the soldiers putting their lives on the line for their country and I still believe that there are many good, brave men and women out there as well but the fact that we view all these men and women as heroes and doing only good is just not the case. While watching the special I had so many emotions, I was angry, appalled, astonished. I wanted to cry and I wanted to throw up at the same time. I understand there are many pressures of war and that these people have been pushed to their breaking points and also that no matter what I will never be in their position and know how they felt or faced with their challenges, but at the same time I still cannot comprehend how any human being with an ounce of love in their hearts could commit such heinous crimes on a fellow human being.
I had never heard of the term sexual exceptionalism before this class and I am absolutely disgusted that our government would use such ignorant excuses to sexually target and abuse an entire group of people. The torture inflicted on the prisoners at Abu Ghraib is absolutely appalling and not a single human being on earth deserves that treatment. I also don't understand how our government can even try to begin to justify themselves in letting and encouraging this behavior from their military personal.
I really want to watch the rest of this special but I haven't had time to get around to it yet but I think specials like this need to be viewed by every American. The American people need to make themselves less ignorant to what is happening in war and what our government is promoting.
PBS Frontline, Taking Off the Gloves- Reaction
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Something that I think makes the whole situation harder to take in is that the United States is reluctant to stop torture practices, despite public outcry. People don't think that it's as bad as it is--Sean Hannity doesn't find waterboarding to be a form of torture (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/22/hannity-offers-to-be-wate_n_190354.html), probably because he has no clue what it actually does to a person. Many Americans are wrapped up in seeing themselves as freedom fighters, so torture isn't as bad because we're doing it in the name of democracy. I'm glad that we at least have John McCain to try and pump some sense into some people. We glorify veterans, yet when one steps out to say that torturing is bad and it is a marker that we are no better than our enemies, we somehow turn our backs.